Ethical Considerations for Clinical Trial Design

Dr Leigh Frame published a review in Nutrients about clinical trial ethics, particularly concerning vitamin D studies and the use of placebos.

Use of Placebo in Supplementation Studies – Vitamin D Research Illustrates an Ethical Quandary highlights the fact history has shown without explicit and enforced guidelines, even well-intentioned researchers can fail to adequately examine the ethical pros and cons of study design choices. Dr Frame points out that modern studies need a more nuanced approach to the use of placebo in clinical trials, particularly in vulnerable populations, and joins us to cover withholding nutrients from people who need them and the ethical implications of trials not powered to detect a difference.

Dr Frame is program director of the Integrative Medicine Programmes at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, which produces its own podcast: GWU Integrative Medicine, the podcast about disease prevention and health promotion. You can check it out here.