Research ethics in the intensive care unit current and future challenges 英文参考文献.docVIP

Available online /content/8/2/71 Editorial Research ethics in the intensive care unit: current and future challenges Laura Hawryluck Assistant Professor, Critical Care Medicine, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Canada Correspondence: Laura Hawryluck, laura.hawryluck@utoronto.ca Published online: 12 January 2004 Critical Care 2004, 8:71-72 (DOI 10.1186/cc2419) This article is online at /content/8/2/71 ? 2004 BioMed Central Ltd (Print ISSN 1364-8535; Online ISSN 1466-609X) Critical Care is launching a new section to the website Critical Care Forum in which several articles relating to a specific theme will be pulled together under the title Theme series. challenges to ethical principles originally developed to guide us through the practicalities of living moral lives — for ethical principles were not originally devised to be applied to the research setting, nor were they conceived to meet the unique challenges we face in the ICU. Now, we are asking that the ethical principles be stretched to encompass the uncertainty, the risks, the benefits and the burdens of research protocols. Fundamental questions arise: Are our current ethical principles and theories sufficient to help us navigate the issues arising from such research? How do they guide us, as investigators, as members of the healthcare community, and as members of a wider society, in achieving balance between potential benefits and harms? With this new section we aim to produce a series of articles that will provide substantial coverage of several topics relating to important themes within the intensive care environment. We are hoping this will raise awareness of the topics covered and provide a platform for discussion related to each theme. Research ethics is an important, even central, theme in this series. Since the recognition of critical care medicine 40 years ago, concentrated research efforts have enabled us to save lives we would have otherwis