Duty to disclose what? Querying the putative obligation to return research results to participants Export

@article{citeulike:2468608, abstract = {Many research ethics guidelines now oblige researchers to offer research participants the results of research in which they participated. This practice is intended to uphold respect for persons and ensure that participants are not treated as mere means to an end. Yet some scholars have begun to question a generalised duty to disclose research results, highlighting the potential harms arising from disclosure and questioning the ethical justification for a duty to disclose, especially with respect to individual results. In support of this view, we argue that current rationales for a duty of disclosure do not form an adequate basis for an ethical imperative. We review policy guidance and scholarly commentary regarding the duty to communicate the results of biomedical, epidemiological and genetic research to research participants and show that there is wide variation in opinion regarding what should be disclosed and under what circumstance. Moreover, we argue that there is fundamental confusion about the notion of "research results," specifically regarding three core concepts: the distinction between aggregate and individual results, amongst different types of research, and across different degrees of result veracity. Even where policy guidance and scholarly commentary have been most forceful in support of an ethical imperative to disclose research results, ambiguity regarding what is to be disclosed confounds ethical action. 10.1136/jme.2006.020289}, author = {Miller, F. A. and Christensen, R. and Giacomini, M. and Robert, J. S.}, citeulike-article-id = {2468608}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jme.2006.020289}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://jme.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/34/3/210}, citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18316466}, citeulike-linkout-3 = {http://www.hubmed.org/display.cgi?uids=18316466}, day = {1}, doi = {10.1136/jme.2006.020289}, journal = {J Med Ethics}, keywords = {disclosure, study-design}, month = {March}, number = {3}, pages = {210--213}, posted-at = {2008-04-02 21:04:36}, priority = {5}, title = {Duty to disclose what? Querying the putative obligation to return research results to participants}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jme.2006.020289}, volume = {34}, year = {2008} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2468608 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2468608 N2 - Many research ethics guidelines now oblige researchers to offer research participants the results of research in which they participated. This practice is intended to uphold respect for persons and ensure that participants are not treated as mere means to an end. Yet some scholars have begun to question a generalised duty to disclose research results, highlighting the potential harms arising from disclosure and questioning the ethical justification for a duty to disclose, especially with respect to individual results. In support of this view, we argue that current rationales for a duty of disclosure do not form an adequate basis for an ethical imperative. We review policy guidance and scholarly commentary regarding the duty to communicate the results of biomedical, epidemiological and genetic research to research participants and show that there is wide variation in opinion regarding what should be disclosed and under what circumstance. Moreover, we argue that there is fundamental confusion about the notion of "research results," specifically regarding three core concepts: the distinction between aggregate and individual results, amongst different types of research, and across different degrees of result veracity. Even where policy guidance and scholarly commentary have been most forceful in support of an ethical imperative to disclose research results, ambiguity regarding what is to be disclosed confounds ethical action. 10.1136/jme.2006.020289 IS - 3 JF - J Med Ethics EP - 213 TI - Duty to disclose what? Querying the putative obligation to return research results to participants VL - 34 SP - 210 KW - disclosure KW - study-design AU - Miller, FA AU - Christensen, R AU - Giacomini, M AU - Robert, JS PY - 2008/03/01/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jme.2006.020289 ER -