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 Notes from 2/19: Institution Review Boards [IRB's]
& the Legal System

E. Thatcher


See Office for Human Research Protections' IRB Guidebook:

http://ohrp.osophs.dhhs.gov/irb/irb_guidebook.htm


IRB charge: Protect human subjects- medical treatment, biomedical & behavior research

Nuremburg Code- response to Nazi "research" by Mengele & supporters

Note: US has its own history: Tuskegee study of syphilis continued into the early 1970's. [1-3] [See also the docudrama movie Miss Evers' Boys, 1997.]

NIH guidelines established in 1966 became regulations in 1974. Further refinements since then & international agreements in therapeutic research.


IRB Review of proposals:

A. Risk/Benefit Analysis

B. Informed Consent

C. Selection of Subjects- special classes of subjects, consent issues

D. Privacy and Confidentiality

E. Monitoring and Observation

F. Additional Safeguards- laws & regulations

G. Incentives for Participation- compensation for "inconvenience" only

H. Continuing Review


Legal system: The focus on bioethics is distributed on many levels. [Go to Links page for multiple resources.]

Uphold existing laws & regulations

Legislative action & court test cases- break new ground as the need arises

Supreme Court- not the last word- E.g.: Roe v. Wade [30 yrs ago]

Criminal cases vs. civil cases- variations on many themes

Patents; malpractice; environmental impact


Something to think about: Will GATTACA [1997] become reality?


References:

1. James H. Jones, 1993. Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, New York: Free Press

2. The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment - http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762136.html

3. The Troubling Legacy of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study- http://hsc.virginia.edu/hs-library/historical/apology/

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 Updated 2/17/03 by thatcher@sonoma.edu