Medicine : A meeting point between science and public

Developing a medicine involves efforts related to a variety of scientific fields including chemistry and biology. However, a medicine is going to be used publicly. Therefore, it is not a pure scientific object. We require a medicine to meet an ethical criteria.

In a recent report from NYT, one of major diabetes drugs, Avandia may be conducive to heart attack as a side effect. From the scientific angle, they met the standard. the responsible lab for this drug conducted research on the effects and side effects of this drug and they have known the heart attack risks. After that, they failed to meet the ethical requirement. They tried to cover it up and hide the information from the public.

The people behind developing Avandia would be responsible scientists and practitioners. However, scientific reports on the side effect were ignored by people who are in charge of other criteria. If they understood that their product is not a pure scientific matter but a public matter, they should have put their efforts in driving their scientists toward overcoming side effects instead of covering side effects.

A story from NYT click here