Discusses the role of research administrators as executive administrators and executive managers of Institutional Review Board (IRB) ethical review programs within biomedical research institutions. Suggests that research administrators who serve as IRB executives can work to transform biomedical research organizations from being only associations…

Cites several examples of research studies in which medical as well as ethical considerations affected the treatments prescribed. The ethical versus the statistical aspects of drug testing are also discussed. (CP)

It is suggested that the functions of an institutional review board are to educate, inform, and assist in protocol preparation as well as to review applications in order to ensure that human subjects involved in research are protected. The University of Texas Health Science Center also mediates, exerts peer pressure, and influences policy as it…

Issues related to the doctrine of informed consent for research on human subjects are discussed as they concern the conduct of nursing research. They include the subject's capacity to consent, disclosure of information, and freedom to decide. (MSE)

The editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine discusses considerations in medical research integrity and publication, including the issues of research methodology, readership interest, article selection, editing, honesty, the author's responsibility, announcements of research to the mass media, and previous publication. (MSE)

Physicians are in positions to make decisions on which lives depend. The question of who should be making decisions concerning medical research and practice is a moral issue. The problems of medical ethics concern such concepts as autonomy, burden of proof, coercion, informed consent, paternalism, and diminished capacity. (SW)

Three recent government initiatives that impinge on the ability of the medical and scientific community to provide high quality medical care and to advance knowledge in the biological sciences are addressed at the AAMC meeting. They are categorized as (1) medicine, science, and civil rights; (2) no-risk medical care; and (3) technology and…

Recent discussion of the ethical problems of biomedical human experimentation has drawn attention to the responsibility of the medical schools for training new clinical investigators and for safeguarding the rights and welfare of the subjects of clinical research conducted in the medical schools and their affiliated hospitals. (Author)

Guidelines of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research are discussed. It is concluded that dentistry must not uncritically accept guidelines meant for a broader class of research, that guidelines can be misapplied, and that researchers must educate themselves on the Commission…

Summarizes and comments on three presentations relative to the life sciences and medicine given at the October 1995 working symposium of the Project on Conflict of Interest in University-Industry Research Relationships and included in this issue. Discusses the work of medical researcher David Blumenthal, political scientist Mark Frankel, and…

Assesses the educational state-of-the-art regarding physiological simulation. States the importance of conventional physiology laboratory exercises involving living material. (MA)

The doctrine of informed consent has been enumerated to protect the rights of human subjects involved in biomedical research. The elements of informed consent are summarized along with the changes of emphasis that have evolved. The issue of liability and means for minimizing its impact are discussed. (Author/MLW)

The Association of American Medical Colleges' statement defines misconduct in research, discusses its prevention, and outlines suggested processes and policy for handling allegations of misconduct, appeal and final review, and disciplinary action. (MSE)

Incidents of scientists allowing personal or outside interests to cloud their professional judgment in conducting research are alarming and unacceptable. The Association of American Medical Colleges' Ad Hoc Committee on Misconduct and Conflict of Interest in Research offers a conceptual framework and defines institutional and individual…

The board that advises the Secretary of HEW on ethics has given a qualified approval for further review of federal funding for research on human embryos conceived in the laboratory. Issues and concerns that influenced the board's decision are addressed. (JMD)