No one asked the baby -- an ethical issue in placebo-controlled trials in pregnant smokers

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Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
19:15

Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale

Published on: August 25, 2014

Peter Selby1, Bhushan Kapur, Richard Hackman

  • 1Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto.

The Canadian Journal of Clinical Pharmacology = Journal Canadien De Pharmacologie Clinique
|July 7, 2005
PubMed

This case report involving a placebo-controlled nicotine patch trial illustrates the difficult issue of conducting placebo studies in pregnancy, when one of the two patients involved cannot be asked to consent.

Keywords:
Biomedical and Behavioral ResearchEmpirical Approach

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