"Stenting is so accepted that American cardiologists said they were amazed ethics boards agreed to a study with a sham control group.
But in the United Kingdom, said Dr. Davies, getting approval for the study was not so difficult. Neither was it difficult to find patients.
“There are many people who are open to research, and if you tell them you are exploring a question, people agree,” he said. Nonetheless, it took him three and a half years to find the subjects for his study.
Ethics boards at many American hospitals probably would resist, since giving such patients fake procedures “flies in the face of guidelines,” Dr. Boden said."
Is there not a problem that in the US it would encourage people who otherwise couldn't afford the operation to opt for the "riskier" trial, even if they'd really prefer not to. Whereas in the UK, they would have received the operation free in or out of the trial, therefore the patients financial situation wouldn't factor in to their decision to join. Which feels significantly more ethical to me.
In theory you either have insurance that should cover this (more than 90% of Americans are covered), or else you'd be too poor to really even be able to afford such an operation or medical care. The system sucks, but I don't think the way the system is set up would cause a significant number of people to use free research for medical alternatives.
But in the United Kingdom, said Dr. Davies, getting approval for the study was not so difficult. Neither was it difficult to find patients.
“There are many people who are open to research, and if you tell them you are exploring a question, people agree,” he said. Nonetheless, it took him three and a half years to find the subjects for his study.
Ethics boards at many American hospitals probably would resist, since giving such patients fake procedures “flies in the face of guidelines,” Dr. Boden said."