Balancing Innovation and Ethics: Who is Protecting the Early Adopters?

<p class="p1">This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss.</p> <p class="p1">Innovations in implant technology are advancing at lightning speed, profoundly impacting the lives of people who are blind or visually impaired. In <em>On Tech And Vision,</em> we’ve profiled some amazing new implant technologies that have the potential to restore people’s sight. But in this episode, we pump the breaks — because we need to address a critical part of the innovation process: the ethical frameworks that protect participants in early clinical trials, and the need for an updated framework that ensures patient protections without stifling innovation and development.</p> <p class="p3">Discussions between doctors and participants in clinical trials almost always focus on the new technology and very rarely on the manufacturer who sponsors the clinical trial — and almost never on the long-term commitment and financial viability of the company sponsoring the technology. And while clinical trial informed consent includes whose responsibility it is to remove the implants should they fail <em>during</em> the trial, that responsibility usually ends once the trial is over. At that stage, who will maintain or remove the implants that are still housed in patients’ bodies?</p> <p class="p3">In this episode, we talk about innovative implants such as the Argus II, which we featured in the first season of <em>On Tech And Vision.</em> The Argus II is a microchip implanted under the retina that, in combination with a special headset, provided some vision to people who otherwise had none. And while the technology was exciting, the company discontinued the retinal implant three years ago, and the Argus II was eventually sold to another pharmaceutical company.</p> <p class="p3">Dr. Joseph Fins, Professor of Medical Ethics and Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York, joins us to share his thoughts on today’s big idea: How do we balance the life-changing potential of e