Doing research on the ethics of doing research

doi:10.1186/cc5684

Critical Care

Volume 11
Issue 1

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Commentary

Doing research on the ethics of doing research

Robert D Truog¹^,2

¹Harvard Medical School, Department of Social Medicine, Division of Medical Ethics, 651 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA

²Children's Hospital Boston, Department of Anesthesiology, Division of Critical Care Mediciine, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA

author email corresponding author email

Critical Care 2007, 11:111doi:10.1186/cc5684


Published:	19 February 2007

See related research by Chenaud et al., http://ccforum.com/content/10/6/R170

Abstract

In the previous issue of Critical Care Chenaud and colleagues found that most intensive care unit patients who had given informed consent for their participation in a clinical trial could not recall either the purpose of the trial or its related risks several days later. These findings should remind us that informed consent is a process, not an event, but they should not be interpreted to mean that recall is, of itself, a useful criterion for evaluating either the validity or the quality of the informed consent process. On an entirely separate note, the decision of the authors not to obtain informed consent for this study itself raises interesting questions about the ethics of doing research on the ethics of doing research.