An Asthmatic Child

Author(s): Caroline Whitbeck, Ph.D.

An asthmatic child comes into the ER who has previously had difficulty with side effects from her medication: feeling jittery, elevated heart rate, and vomiting. The parents want to find a medication that does not have these side effects and have heard about the hospital's efficacy study of a new drug that supposedly has fewer side effects. They want to enroll their child.

Discussion Questions

• What do you say to them about the advisability of doing so?
• Does the child's age matter?
• Are there factors that would make a relevant difference to what you would say?

From Discussion Scenarios for Group Mentoring in Responsible Research