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An article published by the American Medical Association’s Virtual Mentor journal advocates making participation in vaccine trials mandatory, arguing that people should be forced to take experimental shots in a similar vein to how jury service is compulsory.
Concerned about the “distressing decline in the numbers of healthy volunteers who participate in clinical trials,” the piece argues that “Compulsory involvement in vaccine studies” should be considered for the “greater good of society.”
Concerned about the “distressing decline in the numbers of healthy volunteers who participate in clinical trials,” the piece argues that “Compulsory involvement in vaccine studies” should be considered for the “greater good of society.”
In both conscription and obligatory trial participation, individuals have little or no choice regarding involvement and face inherent risks over which they have no control, all for the greater good of society.”
Society is unlikely to accept compulsory recruitment to a trial for a vaccine against the common cold if the vaccine causes severe complications in vaccinees. Increase the severity of the disease in question, however, and compulsory recruitment becomes a more palatable option.
When will the insanity stop?
Originally posted by DAZ21
Sometimes it's better the devil you know.
An article published by the American Medical Association’s Virtual Mentor journal advocates making participation in vaccine trials mandatory, arguing that people should be forced to take experimental shots in a similar vein to how jury service is compulsory.
Given the inherent risks and common lack of efficacy in many candidate vaccines in development, the principles of nonmaleficence and beneficence would argue against the involvement of subjects in most clinical trials.
Respect for autonomy, on the other hand, would recognize and maintain the right of individuals to self-determination and their corresponding right to refuse a medical intervention. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights upholds the rights, dignity, and freedom of individuals and the need to protect people from “arbitrary interference” [14]—principles that would inevitably be compromised by mandatory enrollment in vaccine trials. Health services depend absolutely on the public’s confidence and trust—compromising on respect for autonomy would undermine this fundamental premise and launch us on a precarious slippery slope that may be difficult to climb back up.
A more palatable and realistic option is a policy of “mandated choice.” In this case individuals would be required by law to state in advance their willingness to participate in vaccine trials [15]. The advantage of this system is that it could identify a large cohort of willing volunteers from which participants could be recruited rapidly without jeopardizing individual autonomy. It would encourage an open, noncoercive philosophy for tackling societal challenges without compromising individual freedom or public trust in the health care system.
If a concerted effort were made to increase public awareness of the success of vaccination, the potential of novel vaccines to improve global health drastically, and the important contribution that individuals can make by volunteering for studies, perhaps mandatory enrollment would not even need to be considered.
But perhaps most importantly, as a society we need to evaluate our perception of vaccination. Any successful vaccine program by its very nature takes a once-feared illness out of the public eye. This means that the benefits of immunization become forgotten while side effects in small numbers of individuals fill the headlines. It is all too easy for sensationalist and unfounded stories such as that claiming a link between the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine and autism [16] to instead take root in society’s collective psyche. Ultimately such a crucial public health intervention as vaccine development may become devalued—and only revalued once a drop in vaccination rates leads to resurgence of severe disease.