Epidemiological Research

In this chapter, we come upon the subject of the ethics of epidemiological research. As stated in the book, when it comes to epidemiological research ethics, there are is a major dilemma of if the rights of privacy and confidentiality of an individual must be waived in order to create a major social benefit to society. When it comes to the betterment of society in the form of preventing, curing or eradicating diseases, is it ethical to waive the rights of an individual? I believe that when it comes to matters such as these, the need of the many outweighs the right for privacy of the individual, especially if that individual has no way of preserving his/her own right as in the case that he/she is deceased. Another question that we must consider, as proposed by Campbell, is what would be the correct ethical way of going about using data gathered from these individuals? Should we just blindly put trust into the researchers to not misuse this data? Or should we use a "trusted third party" to relay any necessary information? If we decided to trust the researchers themselves, they could be monitored in a way that they cannot misuse the data and decide for themselves what is relevant and what is not needed. However, if we use a third party, how would they go about deciding what data is relevant to the research when they are not participating in the research themselves? I personally believe we should trust the researchers to decide upon the data they need and conduct the research themselves, albeit with heavy monitoring so the data could be of benefit to society as intended and not misused.