By Suzanne M. Rivera, Ph.D. Of all the protections provided in the Common Rule to safeguard the rights and welfare of research participants, there’s one glaring omission: treatment of study-related injuries. Our current regulatory apparatus is silent on whether treatment of injuries incurred while participating in a study ought to be the responsibility of the…
[posted on behalf of Art Caplan] Greenpeace, perhaps best known for its battles at sea to protect whales and the oceans, has gotten itself involved in a huge controversy over genetically modified food. The group is charging that unsuspecting children were put at risk in a “dangerous” study of genetically engineered rice in rural China. It’s a…
By The Petrie-Flom Center Short notice, but… Alan Wertheimer will be presenting his draft paper “Why Is Consent a Requirement for Ethical Research?” tonight at the Health Law Policy and Bioethics Workshop at Harvard Law School. These workshops take place on selected Mondays from 5-7pm, Hauser Hall, Room 105. This year’s schedule can be found…
by Suzanne M. Rivera, Ph.D. For legitimate reasons, the human research enterprise frequently is regarded with suspicion. Despite numerous rules in place to protect research participants’ rights and welfare, there is a perception that research is inherently exploitative and dangerous. Consequently, most people don’t participate in research. This is not only a fairness problem (few…
By Michelle Meyer In legal scholarship and education, innovation law and policy is virtually synonymous with intellectual property in general, and with patent law in particular. This is curious and, I think, misguided. We expend considerable effort designing optimal incentives for innovation. We expend similar effort ensuring that socially useful knowledge, once produced, is widely…
