Today the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues concluded that the federal government would have to take multiple steps, including additional research in adults, before anthrax vaccine trials with children could be ethically considered by the U.S. government.
In its report released today, Safeguarding Children: Pediatric Medical Countermeasure Research, the Bioethics Commission responded to a request from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Last year the Secretary asked the members to study the question of anthrax vaccine trials with children after receiving a recommendation from another federal committee that such research be initiated, pending ethical review.
Bioethics Commission Chair, Amy Gutmann, Ph.D., authored a Perspective about the report released today in the New England Journal of Medicine. In the piece Gutmann concludes, “Sound science must always respect our ethical obligations to protect children from unnecessary risks. Medical countermeasure research warrants an ongoing national conversation to ensure an unwavering commitment to safeguard all children both from unacceptable risks in research and through research promoting their health and well-being.”
Read the Bioethics Commission’s report.
Read the Perspective in NEJM.
