The ethics of complementary therapy research recruitment: a case study.

The ethics of complementary therapy research recruitment: a case study We suggest that physicians responsible for the clinical care of their patients have a moral and ethical duty to thoughtfully consider recruitment to appropriately approved, funded, and peer reviewed research that may possibly help the people for whom they are responsible. This facilitates the sustained development of evidence-based medicine while recognising the clinical needs of their patients and their rights to informed consent. We do not believe that physicians have the right to fail to inform or exclude patients from such studies based on their personal beliefs. We present a case study that illustrates this issue within the context of researching spiritual healing and cancer.