Clinical Trials and the African Person: A Quest to Re-conceptualize Responsibility

Clinical Trials and the African Person aims to position the African notion of the self/person within the clinical trials context. As opposed to autonomy-based principlism, this other-regarding/communalist perspective is the preferred alternative model. This tactic draws further attention to the inadequacy of the principlist approach particularly in multicultural settings. It also engenders a rethink, stimulates interest, and re-assesses the failed assumptions of universal ethical principles.
As a novel attempt that runs against much of the prevailing (Euro-American) intellectual mood, this approach strives to introduce the African viewpoint by making explicit the import of the self in a re-contextualized arena, meaning within the community and a given milieu. Thus, research ethics must go beyond autonomy-based considerations for the individual, to rightly embed him/her within his/her community and the environment.

Ike V. Iyioke, Ph.D. (2015) Michigan State University, has backgrounds in philosophy, international relations, journalism, and teaching. He has taught healthcare ethics, business ethics, and African philosophy. A MacArthur Foundation/SSRC Fellow, his career has included print journalism and university administration.