# Licensure Urged for Medical Researchers Who Conduct Human Trials



## JeanG (Oct 20, 1999)

I thought this article was interesting, given that medical research is so important, and that we post many research articles here.The URL for this article is: http://www.medscape.com/reuters/prof/2000/...023ethc001.html Licensure Urged for Medical Researchers Who Conduct Human Trials --------------------------------------------------------------------------------WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) Oct 24 - Recent developments in clinical, molecular and epidemiologic research require a new system of ethical oversight of human research, including the licensing of researchers, according to Dr. Konrad Jamrosik, from the University of Western Australia. Writing in the October issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics, Dr. Jamrosik says that there is too much emphasis on the approval of study protocols and too little on whether the investigators are qualified to do the research and whether the work is done in an ethically appropriate way. "In effect, then," he says, "most systems are relying on unchecked assumptions as to the good judgment and integrity of individual investigators." Dr. Jamrosik suggests three steps, which he believes will protect the rights of individuals and give the community at large confidence in the health system. First, he says, there needs to be more education and debate on ethical issues among medical researchers and the community as a whole. Second, Dr. Jamrosik proposes that researchers should be licensed. "We will move," he says, "to a system akin to licensing for drivers (and medical practitioners), one in which a period of formal training in research...followed by a qualifying examination, a period of probationary practice under supervision, and then, subject to satisfactory performance, a full license." Finally, according to Dr. Jamrosik, ethics committees instead of spending most of their time reviewing research applications would devote "more time to monitoring research activity in efforts to detect unlicensed drivers and those infringing the rules of the research road." J Med Ethics 2000;26:334-339.


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## moldie (Sep 25, 1999)

Sounds like a wise move JeanG.


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