When ethical review of experiments is unethical Michael

When ethical review of experiments is unethical Michael H. Birnbaum

How to shock your colleagues • Milgram compliance study will be replicated • Zimbardo prison study will be replicated • These will be done for Reality TV.

IRB stories • • • The man who couldn’t speak to his wife The man who signed in black The word “gamble” The changing date The woman who couldn’t stand it

Excuses • We are only following orders • Eventually we approve everything, but not until you have completed the essay assignment • It doesn’t have to make sense ethically or legally because it only applies to the rights of scientists to publish in the scientific literature.

Is there a place for IRB review? • In my opinion, yes. Only when scientists wish to do something that would otherwise be illegal. • For example, it is usually illegal to inject someone with live HIV virus • There are volunteers who are willing to be injected to test if a new vaccine works. • We need to check that volunteers know the risks and are truly volunteers.

Strange reversal of ethics • Now, the only people who can not do certain things are scientists who plan to publish. • The publication rule = a clear violation of first amendment civil rights • Scientists should be granted greater freedom because of the potential good to society.

Driving Review Board • A useful exercise is to ask the members of the IRB to apply for permission to drive a vehicle. • 41, 000 killed each year, millions of injuries and property damage claims to insurance. • Driving, unlike psychology experiments is truly risky. • Same standards as for IRB review: could anyone drive?

Suggestions • Almost all psychology experiments should be simply exempt. No one is killed, no one injured, and no claims of property damage. (Probably safer to do a psych experiment than drive 1 hour in traffic) • Anything that anyone else could do should be permitted to scientists who plan to publish • Appeal of IRB decisions

How to save lives • 100, 000 people are killed each year by hospital infections = diseases that the person was given in the hospital. • Same effort of IRBs could probably save 60, 000 to 80, 000 lives/year. Get doctors and nurses to follow standard precautions (wash hands, change gloves). • The waste of effort by IRBs is shameful in a nation that has so many preventable deaths.