Abstract

Most agree that clinical research offers one of the best prospects of improving pediatric medicine. Most also agree that children may be exposed to some degree of risk while participating in clinical trials. But the degree of risk that should be permitted and the reasons for which it should be permitted remain controversial. In this paper, I examine a central risk threshold in research with children—the threshold constraining risks that do not offer research subjects the prospect of direct medical benefit. That is, the threshold for research risks undertaken in the interests of deriving valuable knowledge that may benefit future children, but not the research subjects themselves. I examine competing...