Clinical trials – A brave new partnership: A new doctor–patient working relationship in research

An outline of the development of a “brave new partnership” in clinical trials is provided in this specific personal account. This paper was one of several delivered in November 2007 by colleagues deemed to have contributed to the distinguished career of Professor Michael Baum, at a Festschrift convened to honour him. This account describes this strange, new doctor–patient relationship in the research process that we developed, both in our dialogues and in the work of the Consumers' Advisory Group for Clinical Trials (CAG-CT) that we jointly founded. This work formed but one facet of his outstanding contribution to society and academe, in the fields of medicine, ethics and science.