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Comparing Drug Effectiveness at Health Plans: The Ethics of Cluster Randomized Trials
Author(s) -
SABIN JAMES E.,
MAZOR KATHLEEN,
METERKO VANESSA,
GOFF SARAH L.,
PLATT RICHARD
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
hastings center report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1552-146X
pISSN - 0093-0334
DOI - 10.1353/hcr.0.0050
Subject(s) - crts , informed consent , randomized controlled trial , psychological intervention , cluster (spacecraft) , alternative medicine , family medicine , medicine , clinical trial , drug trial , research ethics , psychology , psychiatry , computer science , surgery , computer graphics (images) , pathology , programming language
“Cluster randomized trials,” in which groups of patients are randomly assigned to different therapeutic interventions, provide a powerful way of evaluating drugs. CRTs have not been widely used, in good part because of concerns about whether patients must give informed consent to participate in them. A better understanding of how CRTs fit into clinical practice resolves the concerns.