Legal And Ethical Regulation Of Biomedical Research In Developing Countries

There has been a rapid increase in the pace and scope of international collaborative research in developing countries in recent years. This study argues that whilst ethical regulation of biomedical research in Africa and other developing countries has attracted global attention, legal liability issues, such as the application of common law rules and the development of legally enforceable regulations, have been neglected. It examines some of the major research scandals in Africa and suggests a new ethical framework against which clinical trials could be conducted. The development of research guidelines in Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi and Nigeria are also examined as well as the role of ethics committees. Providing a detailed analysis of the law of negligence and its application to research ethics committees and their members, common law and constitutional forms of action and potential negligence claims, the book concludes by suggesting new protocols and frameworks, improved regulation and litigation. This book will be a valuable guide for students, researchers, and policy-makers with an interest in medical law and ethics, bioethics, customary law in Africa and regulation in developing countries.

Recent international developments show that essential medications can be made affordable and accessible to developing countries, and that double standards need not prevail. This is the first book to examine these issues, drawing the bold conclusion that double standards in medical research are ethically unacceptable."--BOOK JACKET.

The globalisation of research has resulted in the increased location of research involving humans in developing countries. Countries in Africa, along with China and India, have seen research grow significantly. With emerging infectious diseases, such as Ebola and Zika, emphasising the risk of public health crises throughout the world, a further increase in health research, including clinical research in developing countries, which are often the sites of these diseases, becomes inevitable. This growth raises questions about domestic regulation and the governance of health research. This book presents a comprehensive and systemic view of the regulation of research involving humans in African countries. It employs case studies from four countries in which research activities continue to rise, and which have taken steps to regulate health research activity: South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt. The book examines the historical and political contexts of these governance efforts. It describes the research context, some of the research taking place, and the current challenges. It also looks at the governance mechanisms, ranging from domestic ethical guidelines to legal frameworks, the strengthening of existing regulatory agencies to the role of professional regulatory bodies. The book analyses the adequacy of current governance arrangements within African countries, and puts forward recommendations to improve the emerging governance systems for health research in African and other developing countries. It book will be a valuable resource for academics, researchers, practitioners and policy-makers working in the areas of health research, biomedical ethics, health law and regulation in developing countries.

Medical research involving human subjects has contributed to considerable advancements in our knowledge, and to medical benefits. At the same time the development of new technologies as well as further globalisation of medical research raises questions that require the attention of researchers from a range of disciplines. This book gathers the contributions of researchers from nine different countries, who analyse recent developments in medical research from ethical, historical, legal and socio-cultural perspectives. In addition to reflections on innovations in science such as genetic databases and the concept of “targeted therapy” the book also includes analyses regarding the ethico-legal regulation of new technologies such as human tissue banking or the handling of genetic information potentially relevant for participants in medical research. Country and culture-specific aspects that are relevant to human medical research from a global perspective also play a part. The value of multi- and interdisciplinary analysis that includes the perspectives of scholars from normative and empirical disciplines is a shared premise of each contribution.

The growing globalization of medical research and the application of new biotechnologies in morally contested areas has forced a revision of international ethical guidelines. This book examines the controversies surrounding biomedical research in the twenty-first century from a human rights perspective, analyzing the evolution and changes in form and content of international instruments regulating the conduct of biomedical research. The approach adopted is comparative and includes an evaluation of human rights and UK and US law on embryonic stem cell research, the HIV/AIDS trials in the developing world, the Alder Hey Inquiry and the human radiation and nerve gas experiments on human subjects in the US and the UK. This is the first book to analyze some of the major issues in biomedical research today from an international, comparative human rights perspective.

The increasing conduct of clinical research in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) is motivated by the desire to promote host country access to biomedical research, to enhance LMIC access to modern clinical care, and opportunities to conduct research with simpler regulatory requirements and at lower cost. Yet clinical research in LMIC is associated with ethical risks beyond those of clinical research conducted in high-income countries (HIC). Ethical challenges particular to clinical research in LMIC include the conduct of placebo-controlled clinical trials in LMIC despite HIC availability of effective comparator interventions, obtaining informed consent despite power inequities, and the obligation of HIC researchers to redress health disparities in LMIC. This chapter covers these and additional ethical challenges of clinical research in LMIC, and proposes ways to navigate these challenges through awareness, regulatory oversight, consultation, and collaboration with LMIC investigators and community representatives. With its ethical challenges properly managed, clinical research in LMIC provides historic opportunities to bring biomedical research and better healthcare infrastructure to countries previously left behind in the modern rush to biomedical innovation.

This book explores the scope, application and role of medical law, regulatory norms and ethics, and addresses key challenges introduced by contemporary advances in biomedical research and healthcare. While mindful of national developments, the handbook supports a global perspective in its approach to medical law. Contributors include leading scholars in both medical law and ethics, who have developed specially commissioned pieces in order to present a critical overview and analysis of the current state of medical law and ethics. Each chapter offers comprehensive coverage of longstanding and traditional topics in medical law and ethics, and provides dynamic insights into contemporary and emerging issues in this heavily debated field. Topics covered include: Bioethics, health and human rights Medical liability Law and emerging health technologies Public health law Personalized medicine The law and ethics of access to medicines in developing countries Medical research in the genome era Emerging legal and ethical issues in reproductive technologies This advanced level reference work will prove invaluable to legal practitioners, scholars, students and researchers in the disciplines of law, medicine, genetics, dentistry, theology, and medical ethics.