This video examines the ethics of mental health research through the story of Joseph, a 36-year-old patient with schizophrenia who died at the Bronx Psychiatric Center.
This video examines the ethics of mental health research through the story of Joseph, a 36-year-old patient with schizophrenia who died at the Bronx Psychiatric Center. After his death, Joseph's family learned that he had been a participant in a trial for an experimental drug. His sisters wonder whether Joseph, institutionalized for 12 years, was aware that he was a participant in the drug trial. The hospital claimed that Joseph gave his permission. Family members challenge the claim that Joseph knowingly signed the approval form. He could not read and suffered borderline mental retardation. The issue involved obtaining informed consent, an important ethical practice. A critic points out that hospitals receive huge sums of money from drug companies to test new medications, and contends that patients can be taken advantage of by the practice. Defenders of the practice note that the importance of tests of new drugs.