Chapter 10: Dr. Jan VanEys and the Development of MD Anderson’s Code of Ethics; Working with Pharmaceutical Industry

In this chapter, Dr. Gehan talks about Dr. Jan VanEys’ work in pediatrics and as an ethicist at MD Anderson. He mentions Dr. VanEys’ work with Dr. James M. Bowen in the creation of a code of ethics at MD Anderson. He then talks about the role of statistics in cancer research, cancer research ethics, and the ethical use of randomized trials. He goes on to reference Donald “Don” Arthur Berry, head of the Department of Biostatistics at MD Anderson, talks about clinical equipoise, contrasts Bayesian and Frequentist reasoning, sequential analysis, randomized trials, etc. Dr. Gehan talks about the statistics department’s working relationship with other areas at the institution including working with Dr. Charles Blach who was the Head of the Department of Surgery at the time. Before 1980, the National Institute of Health (NIH) funded most research. Changes in the industry saw a bulk of funds coming from drug companies, which required new logistical concerns regarding data management and patient participation numbers to justify expenses. He provides examples of Dr. Bodey\u27s research in protective environments for cancer patients.https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/1319/thumbnail.jp