Medicine and Morals - Lesson Six

Rolling the Dice: The Ethics of Medical Experimentation Often, people with rare or incurable illnesses consider untested experimental treatment, gambling that they will be cured. May one participate in an experimental treatment with no guarantee of success that also has the danger of shortening life? Can we define the allowable odds? Does it matter that participating in this experimental treatment will provide important knowledge that will be helpful in curing others? The lesson considers other ethical issues related to experimentation such as the ethics of stem cell research.