“The Ethics of Randomized Clinical Trials: The Debate about “So-called Clinical Equipoise” and some underlying issues in philosophy of science” IAS-Research Talk by Fred Gifford

Prof Fred Gifford will give a talk entitled “The Ethics of Randomized Clinical Trials: The Debate about “So-called Clinical Equipoise” and some underlying issues in philosophy of science”.

Date and Venue: 4th of November 201, at 11:00, Seminar room – Dept of Logic and Philosophy of Science

Abstract: Benjamin Freedman’s proposal that we conceptualize the ethics of randomized clinical trials in terms of his concept of “clinical equipoise” has been extremely influential.  One goal of this presentation is to show how the “so-called clinical equipoise” position for justifying and regulating RCTs is in fact, despite its broad popularity, not viable.  Another goal is to indicate how the debate about that criterion connects up with various questions in the philosophy of science and medicine.  These include the nature of clinical judgment, the role of value judgments in science, and the significance of claims about the social nature of science.