| dc.description.abstract | Article 6(2) of the Universal Declaration of Bioethics
and Human Rights clearly states that scientific research on
human subjects should only be carried out with the prior, free and
informed consent of the person concerned. This Declaration
inevitably creates ethical dilemma in medical research. During
tests on new drugs, researchers usually divide patients into two
groups. The experimental group receives the “test” drug to be
tested. The control group is given a placebo, a resemblance of the
“test” drug but with no medicinal value in it. This group is never
told the truth about the placebo, so they believe they are receiving
proper treatment just like other patients. Hence, the ethical
dilemma! The researcher is caught between the obligation to tell
the truth, as required by Article 6(2), and the need to conceal
truth, as required by scientific methodology. This paper examines
this dilemma through the lens of two divergent ethical theories of
Utilitarianism and Categorical Imperative, expounded by John
Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant respectively. To resolve this
dilemma, the paper suggests that the researcher be guided by either
or both of these theories to help decide whether or not the use of
placebo is an ethically justifiable lie.
Key words: Consent, experimental group, “test” drug, control
group, Utilitarianism, Categorical Imperative. | en |
