Clinical equipoise

Why still the gold standard for randomized clinical trials?

authored by

Charlemagne Asonganyi Folefac, Hugh Desmond

Abstract

The principle of clinical equipoise has been variously characterized by ethicists and clinicians as fundamentally flawed, a myth, and even a moral balm. Yet, the principle continues to be treated as the de facto gold standard for conducting randomized control trials in an ethical manner. Why do we hold on to clinical equipoise, despite its shortcomings being widely known and well-advertised? This paper reviews the most important arguments criticizing clinical equipoise as well as what the most prominent proposed alternatives are. In the process, it evaluates the justification for continuing to use clinical equipoise as the gold standard for randomized control trials.

External Organisation(s)

KU Leuven
Aarhus University
University of Antwerp (UAntwerpen)
Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)

Type

Article

Journal

Clinical Ethics

Volume

19

Pages

102-112

No. of pages

11

ISSN

1477-7509

Publication date

03.2024

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Medicine (miscellaneous), Issues, ethics and legal aspects, Philosophy

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1177/14777509221121107 (Access: Closed)