Ethical Issues in Environmental Health Research Related to Public Health Emergencies: Reflections on the GuLF STUDY

Conclusions Environmental health research related to disasters and other public health emergencies raises challenging ethical issues that need to be addressed beforehand, including Minimizing risks and promoting benefits to participants. Obtaining valid informed consent. Providing financial compensation to participants. Working with vulnerable participants. Protecting participant confidentiality. Addressing conflicts of interest. Dealing with legal implications of research. Obtaining review from the IRB, community groups, and other committees (e.g., scientific review committees). To ensure that these issues are handled properly, it is important for investigators to work closely with the IRB during the development and implementation of research and to consult with groups representing the community and government agencies involved in emergency response. To promote timely IRB review, researchers may want to work with their IRBs prior to the onset of public health emergencies to develop standardized modular protocols, consent forms, surveys, and related documents (e.g., instruction booklets and brochures for participants, training materials for research teams). When an emergency arises, these materials can be modified quickly to take into account any relevant or unique circumstances, including the population to be studied and the specific exposures and expected health consequences. Such an approach would ensure adequate review by IRBs and other groups of complex ethical issues ...
Source: EHP Research - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Brief Communication September 2015 Source Type: research