And now for something completely different on this blog.
I'm flattered that some University of Pittsburgh graduate students in a seminar on rhetoric and science policy controversies have asked me to "host" their final project, the video that follows.
For this seminar, rather than write a final paper, students were asked to create a role-play that highlights important communicative aspects found in their assigned case-study. This group worked together to examine the controversy surrounding a clinical trials registry and created scenes depicting arguments based in the literature. After drafting scenes, students wrote character sketches and then rehearsed and refined each scene. The role-play was then videotaped, and groups of two or three edited the video for time and content. Finally, students were asked to search out public audiences for their work in order to inspire dialogue and debate in the world outside the classroom. That's where my blog comes in.
This project explores the debate surrounding the establishment of a national clinical trials registry. Recent controversies highlighting the possible dangers of popular pharmaceuticals such as Vioxx and Prozac have renewed debate over the underreporting of negative clinical trials. Legislation such as the Waxman-Markey "Enhancing Drug Safety and Innovation Act" of 2007 has attempted to address the problem of underreporting by requiring that federally or privately sponsored drug researchers register their trials with the publicly accessible database www.clinicaltrials.gov
Take a look and weigh in at the COMMENTS link below.
Posted by schwitz at May 7, 2007 05:00 PM | TrackBack
Nicely done, thought-provoking piece. Here's the thing: I think the general public believes access to information is empowering. But they don't know what they don't know. Information without context can be harmful, especially in a case that an individual would stop taking his/her medication without consulting his/her physician based on a 10-second story on the nightly news.
A web site with clinical trial information would at least give physicians quick access to information to determine the best course of action to recommend for each individual patient.
And I suspect highly educated consumers would access the site for information, as well.