Using ethnographic material collected between 2003 and 2007 in five HIV clinics in the US,
South Africa, Uganda, and Thailand, this article examines “official ethics” and “ethics on the
ground.” It compares the ethical conundrums clinic staff and researchers confront in their
daily work as HIV researchers with the dilemmas officially identified as ethical issues by
bioethicists and people responsible for ethics reviews and compliance with ethics
regulations. The tangled relation between ethical problems and solutions invites a …