David Magnus, Ph.D.
John Lantos, MD weighs in on the SUPPORT study. He points out that the work of self-appointed “watch-dogs” such as Public Citizen and the Alliance for Human Research Protection are a danger to bioethics.
“Their criticism of this important trial also discredits bioethics. Bioethics, at its best, advocates for the most vulnerable patients and criticizes doctors and researchers who put those patients at risk. In this instance, OHRP and Public Citizen have, in the name of bioethics and advocacy, criticized clinical investigators who were trying to prevent the use of harmful and unvalidated treatments and, instead, endorsed an anti-intellectual, unscientific approach to medical innovation for the most vulnerable patients.”