Neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO): Clinical trials and the ethics of evidence

Abstract

Neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) a technology for the treatment of respiratory failure in newborns is used as a case study to examine statistical and ethical aspects of clinical trials and to illustrate a proposed ethics of evidence, an approach to medical uncertainty within the context of contemporary biomedical ethics. Discussion includes the twofold aim of the ethics of evidence: to clarify the role of uncertainty and scientific evidence in medical decision-making, and to call attention to the need to confront the irreducible nature of uncertainty.