Risperidone Trial Summary

The author believes that biomedical research is the way of better understanding medicine and without randomized clinical trials the field of medicine will have insufficient information. He argues that randomized clinical trials are the most scientifically sound and ethically correct means of evaluating new therapies. The belief of a physician being unethical when running randomized clinical trials is rejected by this article because previous trials on patients can have a better outcome on future patients. This article stresses that randomized clinical trials must be carefully designed that has an intended purpose of gathering data to improve the wellbeing of patients. If the patient is to endure a clinical trial he/she must be properly informed of the risks of the trial and the health of the patient should be high priority. Overall this article explains the importance of randomized clinical trials and debunks the idea of randomized clinical trials as being unethical. This article uses a utilitarian point of view and gives reasons why these trials can be in the best interests for both the patient and society.

Ethical decisions are informed decisions; critical thinking about human problems requires knowledge (Manias 2013). Prescription medication is so controlling that a doctor must determine if it is in the best interest of the patient to take the medication. There are side effects and possible harmful effects with every prescription that is written. Legally, patients are not permitted to sell or share prescription medications with others. This matter is much more than just a legal implication. Morally and ethically, patients should beware that even though it may be well intentioned, they should at no time share or sell prescription medication. What is useful for one could possibly be fatal to another.

Another question we come across in this case is "Should these pharmaceutical companies have a moral obligation to make the drugs available to the people who they performed clinical trials on?". Again we clearly should see that the pharmaceutical companies should allow the access of these drugs to the people that are being used to test their products. There is a huge risk for these people who are taking a new drug, not knowing exactly what the outcome can be and are merely treated as guinea pigs for the

The ethical teachings and values of utilitarianism and Christian ethics are similar in some aspects, yet however are diverse in others. Utilitarianism is a generally teleological ethical system, where the outcome is said to justify the act. The act is considered ‘good’ if it brings about the greatest good for the greatest number. Christian Ethics, however, can be quite different. Many aspects of its ethics are deontological, for example, the Decalogue and Natural Law. There are other differences and indeed some similarities which will be considered throughout this essay.

Placebos have been used in clinical trials since the eighteenth century but did not become a research topic until the late twentieth century (van Haselen, 2013). Most often when using placebos in clinical trials it is to determine whether or not the active agent has more effect on a patient than the placebo by providing each to the same number of recipients. The trials are almost always double blinded, this means that both person giving the drug and the person receiving it are unaware whether or not it is active so that good care and relationships must be present in the recipients at all times (Tavel, 2014). Ovosi, Ibrahim, & Bello-Ovosi (2017) declared “The choice between placebo and active controls in clinical trials affects the quality of the result as well as the ethical and scientific acceptability by both the public and regulatory bodies. It has, therefore, continued to generate discuss among researchers” (para. 3). This goes against the autonomy of a patient which is the right for a person to

This temptation happens when the research question, such as a cure for cancer, is extremely important and the answer could save lives. If the investigators cared more about the scientific or medical advancement than the well-being of their participants, they would cross a line that prohibits treating human subjects as a means to an end. When this line is crossed, there is little left to protect patients from a callous disregard of their welfare for the sake of research goals. Informed consent would not matter because of the unbalanced relationship between the knowledge and authority among the researcher and the subject. Approval by an institutional board, although it is important, can be subject to change in its responsiveness to patients’ interests when they conflict with the welfares of the researchers. Going back to Paul’s case, he agrees to enter a clinical trial which was suggested by his oncologist. The study, that Paul has agreed to enter, has claimed that this research team has created a new drug that may be on its way to cure cancer. Obviously to a father and husband, this trial looks very appealing. However, the researchers knowingly form two groups that will compare two treatments. What Paul doesn’t know, is that one of the treatments is better than the other. One group will receive this new drug and the other group will receive a placebo. Comparing this new treatment

to question whether it is ethical for clinicians to prescribe placebos in clinical practice. Through defining placebo and placebo effect and presenting a case where a placebo is prescribed, I argue that in limited cases it is ethical for clinicians to prescribe a placebo for a patient.

Special attention should be giving to understanding informed consent and any challenges that may be presented and prescribing ethically medications to special populations such as children. According to the Gerald Tietz of the Washington law review (1986), indicates that it is well within a practitioner’s scope of duty to inform the patient of significant effects were injuries that may be related to the prescribing of any particular pharmacological treatment. This informed consent should be expanded to include the harms were dangerous presented also with non-use of additional treatment interventions such as therapy or CBT. Additional trends identified in ambulance pediatrics (Cooper, Arbogast & Ding, 2006), or the trends and the prescription of antipsychotic medications for children in the United States of America. The information taken from the national ambulatory medical care survey in regards to the US population indicated that between 1995 and 2002 there were nearly 6,000,000 visits to health providers by children in the US that had been subscribed or prescribed antipsychotic medications. Nearly 1/3 of the prescriptions for lease populations were provided by non-mental health service professionals. The study of the department of pediatrics at Vanderbilt University in Nashville also indicated that over half of the prescriptions for these children were given based on behavioral indications or affective disorders which find a way

The definition of exploitation is the use of utilization, mostly in regards of profit. Nowadays, there are many pharmaceutical companies that have a vested interest in profit rather than caring for patients. This false façade will be promoted through randomized clinical trials where data can be easily fabricated. This brings into question whether this is ethical or not – so epistemic information must be examined. However, conducting these randomized clinical trials will bring into detail the method of informed consent and its purpose within equipoise. Miller argues that equipoise is incoherent in terms of its methods as well as the appearance of the step process appearing very deceptive. As for informed consent, there are times where patients

Physiological Changes Due to Risperdal Hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, psychosis and thought disorder are all symptoms of Schizophrenia and people who suffer from these symptoms seek the treatment of atypical anti-psychotic medications. Those medicines include Risperidone (Risperdal), Clozapine (Clozaril) , Ziprasidone (Geodon) and Quetiapine(Seroquel). The purpose of these medications

Shared decision-making involves an open and honest conversation between the clinician and the patient. It is a collaboration that takes into account treatment options and the patient’s values and preferences. It gives a patient a voice in their own care. Therefore, pure placebo-prescribing is ethical when the patient has a say – which can foster a placebo effect within the patient. Not from the pill “itself, but rather from the relationship between [the] healer and [the] patient, and the latter’s own capacity for self-healing” (Brody, 1982, 117). In other words, the context in which the pure placebo is prescribed can influence its positive results. Contrastingly, when patients are left out of the decision-making process, there is no room for the clinician’s and patient’s relationship to grow. It also raises the possibility of deception – a concept appearing in almost all of the medical literature on placebo-prescribing in clinical practice.

Risperdal (Risperidone) has been used for a number of different mental health disorders. It has been used for Schizophrenia, Bipolar I disorder, and to help with irritability in children with Autism. There are a number of different things that will be covered in this paper such as the chemical makeup of the medication, the appearance, side effects, off label use, side effects, administration, and how it works, with other additional information.

To elaborate, let’s take for example the antipsychotic drug, Haloperidol. Haloperidol is a 1st generation typical butryophenone, which is often used in the treatment of schizophrenia. It is a commonly used drug, but it also been noted to have the worst side effects in its drug class. This is remarkable, and makes one question why physicians, who are well-aware of these consequences, continue to prescribe the drug. The answer in part,

Over the years the “rate of antidepressant use among all ages [have] seen an increase by nearly 400%...” even though deemed ineffective (Smith). This increase came about after more doctors were given a wider range of prescription rights; this allowed them to access a wider range of drugs, capable of delivering a greater level of high if misused. Patients are often prescribed medications without being fully evaluated, leading to treatments which might not be needed. As a result “‘… at least half the folks who are being treated with antidepressants aren't benefiting from the active pharmacological effects of the drugs themselves but from a placebo effect’ " (Hollon, Smith)which affects a person’s state of mind. The Placebo Effect creates the feeling that an ineffective drug is working because it is supposed to work even if the prescribed medication was a simple sugar-water mixture. The efficiency of antidepressants decrease as the prescriber moves across the classes. They are especially less effective when used to treat serious medical conditions but are often used instead of more serious

Helping people is a noble thing to do especially when it comes to the application of natural justice, where human beings help those who are suffering. There is always a hidden intention in every action that is obscured by the notion of philanthropy. Returned favors expectation might not be the ultimate intention as to why people may perform an act (Michael, 1978). However, it will be illogical to say that these intentions were