So you disagree with the Declaration of Helsinki????OK, lay out...

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    So you disagree with the Declaration of Helsinki????

    OK, lay out the parameters for such a placebo RCT double blind test - on lets say Double blind placebo on Measles vaccine in Samoa.

    How would such a test be designed ethically ?

    Waiting with baited breath.....



    Just to let everyone know, here is an explanation of the ethics around placebo trials.....


    Contrary to the false trope that the AV movement tries to promote, placebo is NOT the "gold standard" in medical testing.

    Meanwhile, you might want to review the ethics of placebo tests.

    Contrary to the false trope that the AV movement tries to promote, placebo is NOT the "gold standard" in medical testing.

    The Declaration of Helsinki has been used to by many countries as the basis of their own etihical principles:
    https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/

    Here's what the Declaration says of placebo

    Use of Placebo

    The benefits, risks, burdens and effectiveness of a new intervention must be tested against those of the best proven intervention(s), except in the following circumstances:
    - Where no proven intervention exists, the use of placebo, or no intervention, is acceptable; or
    - Where for compelling and scientifically sound methodological reasons the use of any intervention less effective than the best proven one, the use of placebo, or no intervention is necessary to determine the efficacy or safety of an intervention and the patients who receive any intervention less effective than the best proven one, placebo, or no intervention will not be subject to additional risks of serious or irreversible harm as a result of not receiving the best proven intervention.Extreme care must be taken to avoid abuse of this option.

    So in terms of testing vaccines, it can ONLY be used when there is no other successful product.
    In practice, and and general terms, the placebo will only be used for the first tests of the vaccines.

    I'll probably regret this, but as a reductio ad absurdum, consider the case of testing a new type of parachute.

    Do you test the effectiveness of a new parachute against say, existing parachutes which are known (usually) to work, or do you test it with a placebo of some sort, say a backpack with a picnic hidden inside?

    It's no different for diseases like measles.




 
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