Birdbonks
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2022
Aren’t the subjects usually required to sign consent forms that say they understand there is a possibility they will receive a placebo anyway? I’m not a doctor or researcher but it seems like that would be a pretty simple way to quash the withholding treatment argument.This nonsense from Tony (and Jack Turban) about the 'ethical impossibility' of 'withholding treatment' from those who may be assigned to the placebo group in a blind trial is possibly the most annoying instance of 'cart before the horse' I've ever come across. The point of the blinded RCT is to establish that the treatment is effective (compared to placebo) IN THE FIRST PLACE. If you are doing a trial, you haven't established the efficacy, so 'withholding' the treatment from the placebo group assignees doesn't mean anything - you are only 'withholding' an unproven treatment. There are trials of novel cancer treatments all the time in which people with the cancer are assigned to the placebo group. No ethical problem.