Conflicts of interest and protecting research subjects
Posted by Jesse Reynolds November 30, 2006
Biopolitical Times
Institutional Review Boards, which must approve any research using human subjects, frequently harbor deep conflicts of interest. According to a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine, "Relationships between IRB members and industry are common, and members sometimes participate in decisions about protocols sponsored by companies with which they have a financial relationship." Such financial relationships have come under fire before, but little has been done to prevent conflicts.
Now, oversight of stem cell research is being placed in the hands of similar institutionally affiliated bodies, Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight committees (ESCRO). But these boards report to no one; at least IRB's are supposedly monitored by the NIH's Office for Human Research Protections. How widespread will financial relationships and conflicts of interests be on ESCROs ?
Now, oversight of stem cell research is being placed in the hands of similar institutionally affiliated bodies, Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight committees (ESCRO). But these boards report to no one; at least IRB's are supposedly monitored by the NIH's Office for Human Research Protections. How widespread will financial relationships and conflicts of interests be on ESCROs ?