ArticleThe American journal of bioethics : AJOB2022
A New Ethical Framework for Assessing the Unique Challenges of Fetal Therapy Trials.
Article in The American journal of bioethics : AJOB, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Ethical challenges in conducting maternal-fetal surgery trials. A systematic review.Pediatric research · 2025Pooled it
- Who should be included in first-in-human trials? A systematic review of reasons.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Trial
- The Ethics of Clinical Research on Diseases of the Fetus and Newborn: Balancing Benefit-Risk, Autonomy, and Maternal-Fetal Interests.American journal of perinatology · 2026Review
- In Utero Molecular-Targeted Drug Therapies: Translational Principles, Pharmacologic Considerations, and Emerging Clinical Applications.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Bridging disciplinary siloes: a scoping review on the inclusion and exclusion of pregnant and lactating populations in clinical research.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Prenatal therapies: a Points to Consider framework for responsible innovation.BMC medical genomics · 2025Review
- Advancing precision care in pregnancy through a treatable fetal findings list.American journal of human genetics · 2025Review
- Prenatal gene editing for neurodevelopmental diseases: Ethical considerations.American journal of human genetics · 2025Review
- Bilateral renal agenesis: fetal intervention and outcomes.Pediatric nephrology (Berlin, Germany) · 2025Review
- Ethical Considerations in Fetal Cardiology.Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2024Review
- Precarious hope: Ethical considerations for offering experimental fetal therapies outside of research after initial studies in humans.Prenatal diagnosis · 2024Article
- Ethical challenges in first-in-human trials of the artificial placenta and artificial womb: not all technologies are created equally, ethically.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2023Review
- A new ethical framework to determine acceptable risks in fetal therapy trials.Prenatal diagnosis · 2022Review
- Considering Reprogenomics in the Ethical Future of Fetal Therapy Trials.The American journal of bioethics : AJOB · 2022Article
- A New Ethical Framework for Assessing the Unique Challenges of Fetal Therapy Trials: Response to Commentaries.The American journal of bioethics : AJOB · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
New fetal therapies offer important prospects for improving health. However, having to consider both the fetus and the pregnant woman makes the risk-benefit analysis of fetal therapy trials challenging. Regulatory guidance is limited, and proposed ethical frameworks are overly restrictive or permissive. We propose a new ethical framework for fetal therapy research. First, we argue that considering only biomedical benefits fails to capture all relevant interests. Thus, we endorse expanding the considered benefits to include evidence-based psychosocial effects of fetal therapies. Second, we reject the commonly proposed categorical risk and/or benefit thresholds for assessing fetal therapy research (e.g., only for life-threatening conditions). Instead, we propose that the individual risks for the pregnant woman
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.