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You are a member of your college’s institutional review board. You must decide w

ID: 3020655 • Letter: Y

Question

You are a member of your college’s institutional review board. You must decide whether several research proposals qualify for less rigorous review because they involve only minimal risk to subjects. Federal regulations say that “minimal risk” means the risks are no greater than “those ordinarily encountered in daily life or during the performance of routine physical or psychological examinations or tests.” That’s vague. Which of these do you think qualifies as “minimal risk”?

Take hair and nail clippings in a nondisfi guring manner. Collect data on subjects through the use of X rays or microwaves. Draw a drop of blood by pricking a fi nger to measure blood sugar. Insert a tube that remains in the arm so that blood can be drawn regularly. Take permanent teeth if routine patient care indicates a need for extraction. Take extra specimens from a subject who is undergoing an invasive clinical procedure such as a bronchoscopy (a procedure in which a physician views the inside of the airways for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes using an instrument that is inserted into the airways, usually through the nose or mouth).

Explanation / Answer

Take extra specimens from a subject who is undergoing an invasive clinical procedure such as a bronchoscopy (a procedure in which a physician views the inside of the airways for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes using an instrument that is inserted into the airways, usually through the nose or mouth).