PHLB09H3 Study Guide - Final Guide: Sentience, Umbilical Cord, Involuntary Euthanasia
Document Summary
Theoretical equipoise is the balance or the uncertainty of a physician or researcher over the efficiency of two different treatments that they are running in a trial. It"s considered fragile due to how easy it is to disturb primarily by a simple hunch by the physician if he/she would favor one treatment over the other. However, clinical equipoise is when there is genuine disagreement in the medical community regarding which therapy ought to be preferred. It proposes that a trial is ethical as long as there is genuine uncertainty about the relative benefits of a treatment, among the scientific community. Clinical equipoise would allow more research to be done because it limits personal opinions of one researcher and takes into consideration what the whole scientific community thinks. Under theoretical equipoise, a trial would be considered unethical and thus terminated as soon as the researcher believes that one treatment is better than the other.
