Armchairs vs. Evidence in the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics

Last week I promised some comments on the Winter 2012 issue of the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, which features a symposium entitled "Research Ethics: Reexamining Key Concerns."

The contributions reinforced my sense that the IRB debate is in part a contest between evidence-based approaches and armchair ethics.

Bell and Salmon Warn of Dangerous Assumptions

Kirsten Bell and Amy Salmon, both of the University of British Columbia, warn that in trying to protect people they consider vulnerable, ethics committees ignore empirical evidence that some measures are counterproductive.

[Bell, Kirsten, and Amy Salmon. “Good Intentions and Dangerous Assumptions: Research Ethics Committees and Illicit Drug Use Research.” Research Ethics 8, no. 4 (December 2012): 191–199. doi:10.1177/1747016112461731.]