The Ethics of Research on Treatment Discontinuation.

London, Alex John · NEJM Evid · 2022

review · Level V

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Abstract

Discussions of the ethics of research with human participants frequently focus on early-phase studies that investigate the clinical properties of novel interventions,<sup>1</sup> randomized controlled trials that investigate the relative diagnostic, prophylactic, or therapeutic merits of promising new interventions,<sup>2</sup> or pragmatic research on existing practices.<sup>3</sup> There has also been significant discussion of ethical issues in trials that employ a "washout period," in which participants discontinue one treatment before being exposed to another.<sup>4</sup>.