May 14, 2015

clinical research with children: ethical issues

Without well-conducted medical research with children, our understanding of childhood disorders and evidence base for treatments will remain limited. The benefits of research can be seen in areas such as childhood leukemia, but overall, health research with children lags behind that with adults. In everyday practice, doctors still need to prescribe medicines that are often only tested in adults. Despite this, researchers and parents are worried about asking children to take part in research because of ethical and practical concerns.

Following a two year inquiry, which has heard from hundreds of children and parents, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics is publishing its report, ‘Children and clinical research: ethical issues’.

Members of the report’s working party came to the SMC to discuss things including:

• What is the problem – are children missing out on treatments or receiving inappropriate treatments?
• How can we encourage better research with children?
• Why is there a reluctance to do research with children?
• How do we know what level of risk or discomfort is acceptable?
• What are the roles and responsibilities of researchers, families and children?
• When should children be able to consent to take part in studies?

Speakers:

Prof. Bobbie Farsides, Chair of the Working Party and Professor of Clinical and Biomedical Ethics at Brighton and Sussex Medical School

Dr Helen Sammons, Member of the Working Party, General Paediatrician at Derbyshire Children’s Hospital and Associate Professor of Child Health at the University of Nottingham

Prof. Bridget Young, Member of the Working Party and Professor of Psychology at the University of Liverpool

 Ms Katharine Wright, Assistant Director of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics