Ethics and Parkinson's Disease Issues

Conflict of Interest Should I, as principal investigator of a new drug that potentially could help those who suffer from Parkinson's disease, enroll my father, who has Parkinson's disease, in the study? My Answer to the Question First of all, the study entails a brand new drug that has not been researched previously. I am to study the "efficacy and safety" of a drug, we can assume is powerful, whether it is really the answer to Parkinson's or not.

I would not enroll my father in this test for several reasons. If it turns out the drug has harmful side effects I would not want to have subjected my father to that negative impact. Of course that may sound hypocritical because I would then be willing to subject other person's fathers to the potential negative impacts of this experimental drug. But other participants' families will no doubt sign off on the legal papers allowing their family members to become part of the research.

So as long as every participant has a full understanding of the potentialities of this experimental drug, I feel ethically secure in using other humans in the research. Secondly, if the drug does turn out to be an effective way to cure or at least reduce the suffering from Parkinson's, my father will be able to benefit from it. If he has had Parkinson's for some time, it won't hurt him to wait another year or whatever time it will take to verify the value of the new drug.

So, a wait and see approach is best from my perspective. Also, my dad is quite old and entering into what appears to be a preliminary condition of dementia; hence, he might get his hopes up really high that the drug will cure him. And if the drug turns out to be ineffective, that would be a huge psychological blow to my father. If he had unreasonable expectations and then those expectations were dashed, he might suffer psychologically and that could perhaps push him into a deeper dementia.

Some of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease include "depression…[and] sleep disruptions" (National Institute of Health). If my dad thought he was to be cured but it turned out the drug was ineffective, I certainly would not want to contribute to his depression.

What ethical principles or documents back up your decision? The ethical principles of research, according to Academy Health, include these guidelines when research is being initiated: a) no research should be conducted when the results are anticipated to turn out a certain way (in the case of my father, he would be expecting positive results); b) the objectives of the research should be mutually agreed upon prior to the investigation; c) reasonable objectives should be set and the researcher should be given the "freedom to analyze the data" and to report findings (in the case of my father, it would be better not to include him in the research because he might question the findings and fail to come to an understanding of the findings).

It would be a conflict of interest if my father was part of the research. The Academy realizes that "…conflicts of interest vary widely both across disciplines and with circumstances." There are no "mathematical formulae or computer algorithms" determine what possible conflicts of interest may be present; the possible presence of conflicts of interest require "…judgment in order to balance competing values" (Academy Health). Researchers might have a conflict of interest between "their research goals and spending time with their families, advocating for.