Blinding Authority: Randomized Clinical Trials and the Production of Global Scientific Knowledge in Contemporary Sri Lanka

Simpson, B.; Sariola, S.

doi:10.1177/0162243911432648

Blinding Authority: Randomized Clinical Trials and the Production of Global Scientific Knowledge in Contemporary Sri Lanka

Simpson, B.; Sariola, S.

Authors

Professor Bob Simpson robert.simpson@durham.ac.uk
Emeritus Professor

S. Sariola

Abstract

In this article, the authors present an ethnography of biomedical knowledge production and science collaboration when they take place in developing country contexts. The authors focus on the arrival of international clinical trials to Sri Lanka and provide analysis of what was described as one of the first multisited trials in the country, a pharmaceutical company sponsored, phase 2, randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial carried out between 2009 and 2010. Using interviews with those who conducted the trial and six months of participant observation at the trial hospital, the authors describe the work that goes on to perform trials according to international standards. The article describes what happens when a randomized controlled trial encounters existing epistemic virtues and documents the impacts on ideas of authority, expertise and doctor–patient relationships found in Sri Lankan medicine.

Citation

Simpson, B., & Sariola, S. (2012). Blinding Authority: Randomized Clinical Trials and the Production of Global Scientific Knowledge in Contemporary Sri Lanka. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 37(5), 555-575. https://doi.org/10.1177/0162243911432648

Journal Article Type	Article
Online Publication Date	Mar 30, 2012
Publication Date	Sep 1, 2012
Deposit Date	Oct 31, 2012
Publicly Available Date	Aug 2, 2013
Journal	Science, Technology, and Human Values
Print ISSN	0162-2439
Electronic ISSN	1552-8251
Publisher	SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	37
Issue	5
Pages	555-575
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1177/0162243911432648
Keywords	Clinical trials, Knowledge production, Sri Lanka, Epistemic virtues, Ethnography.

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Copyright Statement
The final definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal 'Science, technology, & human values' 37/5, 2012 © The Author(s) 2012 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Science, technology & human values page: http://sth.sagepub.com/ on SAGE Journals Online: http://online.sagepub.com/