btc6210 Human Experimentation

This writing assignment requires you to write a paper identifying all apparent and real conflicts of interest related to the Case Study in the attached articles and make recommendations for managing, eliminating, or reducing the conflicts of interest.

This assignment must be 3 to 5 pages in length, single-spaced, 12 point font, and 1 inch margins. References are to be listed in a separate final page of the assignment.

Answer preview

The Fred Hutchison Cancer Center is one of the most successful and largest bone marrow transplant centers in both the US and worldwide.  The center receives grants from the federal government and other independent US research institutes. The case was presented in the US district court in the Western District of Washington by the patients’ families filed a suit against Fred Hutchinson Research Center. The file occurred after Fred Hutchinson Research Center conducted a series of cancer trials between 1981 and 1993. At this time, the research center conducted clinical trials using T-cell depletion to graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD), which has been the cause of death during the bone marrow transplant process. Several patients who enrolled for the Fred Hutchison Cancer center trial died (Lin, & Liang, 2004). The causes of what transpired during the death of the patients who enrolled for trials gained wider attention after a series of articles published by The Seattle Times. Immediately after the Fred Hutchison research trials publication, the patient family filed a case against the center.  The patients’ families claimed the center did not disclose all information needed by the participants to make informed decisions.  According to the families, the center researchers failed to disclose important details to the patients that the GVHD treatment trial is likely to cause bone marrow treatment failure.  Also, the families claimed that the facility failed reveal the relevant information related to the research to the Institutional Review Board (IRB), and it intimidated its officials, which contravened the federal regulations. They also argued that the investigators had financial interest from the project because they eyed big proceeds if the treatment became successful. The patients’ families argued the investigators had ownership of the stock in the company.

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