[Air-L] IRBs

[Christian Nelson]

I've been on an IRB at various levels and at various types of  
institutions for well over a decade, so I've followed the news about  
them and heard of the results of many of their deliberations. Based  
on that experience, it is not far off the mark to say that many of  
them are making up their own rules. Sure, they have to deal with  
unanticipated circumstances. However, I would be rich if I had a  
nickel for every time I heard of an IRB requiring the gathering of  
signatures on informed consent forms from subjects in experiments  
that posed no risk to the subjects except the risk of being  
identified with the experiment through the signing of an informed  
consent form--a situation that the OHRP explicitly cites as one in  
which informed consent forms should not be collected. If that ain't  
making rules up, I don't know what is.
--Christian Nelson

On Mar 9, 2008, at 7:05 PM, Lois Ann Scheidt wrote:

> Most - if not all - IRBs in the USA are most definitely NOT making up
> rules.