Hastings Cent Rep
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It has become increasingly difficult to place a value on the work that doctors do. Yet fiscal pressures have lead to economic incentives for performing certain kinds work instead of others. So the question arises: what are the ethics and consequences of trying to objectively compare the many services physicians offer?
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A predominant ethical view holds that physician-investigators should conduct their research with therapeutic intent. And since a physician offering a therapy wouldn't prescribe second-rate treatments, the experimental intervention and the best proven therapy should appear equally effective. "Clinical equipoise" is necessary. But this perspective is flawed. The ethics of research and of therapy are fundamentally different, and clinical equipoise should be abandoned.