Doubly disadvantaged

On the recruitment of diverse subjects for clinical trials in Latin America

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4448121
AutoresManuela Fernández-Pinto (0000-0002-2318-1284, Universidad de los Andes, autor correspondente)
Ano2019
Volume2
Fascículo1
Páginas391-407
Data de publicação2019-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoTapuya Latin American Science Technology and Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2572-9861 • E-ISSN: 2572-9861
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/25729861.2018.1556237
OpenAlexW2946341339
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas59

Due to its allegedly diverse population and strong doctor–patient relations, Latin America has become one of the most attractive locations for international clinical trials. In the paper, I examine the case of recruitment of women and minority patients to serve as subjects of international clinical trials, through CROs operating in Latin America. In particular, the paper examines some of the strategies that CROs use to expand their services in the Latin American medical market, illuminating the mechanisms through which the current organization of medical research contributes to power imbalances in the Global South. After analyzing the epistemic and ethical shortcomings of such endeavor, I show how Latin American patients participating in clinical trials are located in a position of double disadvantage. First, they suffer the consequences of a lack of appropriate understanding of symptoms and reaction to treatment. Second, they suffer the consequences of being subjects in clinical trials which are not designed to meet their needs, but the needs of patients in the Global North. Accordingly, I conclude by highlighting the importance of this double disadvantage and suggesting that the problem can be understood in terms of a misalignment of commercial, ethical, and epistemic concerns in clinical research

Alternative medicine · Business · Clinical trial · Disadvantage · Disadvantaged · Environmental health · Latin Americans · Pathology · Political science · Population · Biomedical Ethics and Regulation · Ethics in Clinical Research · Global Health and Surgery · Law · Medicine · Psychology