When BEST Intentions Go Awry: Arsenic Mitigation in Bangladesh
This case is about a public health response to the widespread arsenic contamination of groundwater in Bangladesh. It examines the lead-up to a 2008 media crisis that confronted a Columbia University clinical trial of a potential treatment for arsenic poisoning. The case raises for discussion the challenges of conducting research in rural, less developed and culturally insular communities. It also asks how to help communities while studying them–complicated by funding restrictions and a possible skewing of results.
Case number:
MSPH-12-0003.0
Category:
Public Health and Medical Cases
Topics:
human subject research, crisis management
Teaching resources:
Epilogue,
Teaching note