On the Minimal Risk Threshold in Research With Children

American Journal of Bioethics 14 (9):3-12 (2014)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

To protect children in research, procedures that are not administered in the medical interests of a child must be restricted. The risk threshold for these procedures is generally measured according to the concept of minimal risk. Minimal risk is often defined according to the risks of “daily life.” But it is not clear whose daily life should serve as the baseline; that is, it is not clear to whom minimal risk should refer. Commentators in research ethics often argue that “minimal risk” should refer to healthy children or the subjects of the research. I argue that neither of these interpretations is successful. I propose a new interpretation in which minimal risk refers to children who are not unduly burdened by their daily lives. I argue that children are not unduly burdened when they fare well, and I defend a substantive goods account of children’s welfare.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,593

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Why the Debate over Minimal Risk Needs to be Reconsidered.Ariella Binik & Charles Weijer - 2014 - Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 39 (4):387-405.
Minimal risk as an international ethical standard in research.Loretta M. Kopelman - 2004 - Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 29 (3):351 – 378.
Minimal Risk in Research Involving Pregnant Women and Fetuses.Carson Strong - 2011 - Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 39 (3):529-538.
Risk standards for pediatric research: Rethinking the.David Wendler - 2004 - Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 14 (2):187-198.
Children in health research: a matter of trust.R. L. Woodgate & M. Edwards - 2010 - Journal of Medical Ethics 36 (4):211-216.

Analytics

Added to PP
2014-08-15

Downloads
23 (#584,438)

6 months
2 (#668,348)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Ariella Binik
McMaster University

References found in this work

Anarchy, State, and Utopia.Robert Nozick - 1974 - New York: Basic Books.
Principles of biomedical ethics.Tom L. Beauchamp - 1979 - New York: Oxford University Press. Edited by James F. Childress.
Reasons and Persons.Derek Parfit - 1984 - Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press.
An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation.Jeremy Bentham - 1780 - New York: Dover Publications. Edited by J. H. Burns & H. L. A. Hart.

View all 44 references / Add more references