Research Restrictions Not Confined to IRBs

John Mueller alerts me to Douglas Todd's article, "Academics Fight for B.C. Prof's Right to View Assisted Suicides," Vancouver Sun, 2 July 2008.

The article concerns the case of sociologist Russel Ogden, who studies assisted suicide. His employer, Kwantlen University College, has prohibited him from witnessing assisted suicides, according to the Canadian Association of University Teachers. The association wants scholars to have the opportunity to "understand politically unpopular behaviour."

The twist here is that the research ethics committee (the Canadian term for an IRB) is not to blame. They approved Ogden's research three years ago.

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Update, July 7. Professor Mueller alerts me to further coverage by the National Post and Inside Higher Ed.