Differential payment to research participants in the same study: an ethical analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 318-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Govind Persad ◽  
Holly Fernandez Lynch ◽  
Emily Largent

Recognising that offers of payment to research participants can serve various purposes—reimbursement, compensation and incentive—helps uncover differences between participants, which can justify differential payment of participants within the same study. Participants with different study-related expenses will need different amounts of reimbursement to be restored to their preparticipation financial baseline. Differential compensation can be acceptable when some research participants commit more time or assume greater burdens than others, or if inter-site differences affect the value of compensation. Finally, it may be permissible to offer differential incentive payments if necessary to advance the goals of a study. We encourage investigators and Institutional Review Boards to think about whether to offer payment, in what amounts and for what purpose, and also to consider whether differential payment can help promote the scientific and ethical goals of clinical research.

2008 ◽  
Vol 56 (8) ◽  
pp. 975-984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne M. Rivera

ABSTRACTThe conduct of clinical trials is a complicated process involving a myriad of regulations and enforcement entities. To protect the rights and welfare of study participants, a system of oversight bodies called institutional review boards has been established in the US. This article describes how institutional review boards work and explains what clinical researchers need to know about federally mandated human subject protection requirements.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P Diamond ◽  
Esther Eisenberg ◽  
Hao Huang ◽  
Christos Coutifaris ◽  
Richard S Legro ◽  
...  

Background/aims: Timely review of research protocols by institutional review boards leads to more rapid initiation of clinical trials, which is critical to expeditious translation from bench to bedside. This observational study examined the impact of a single institutional review board on time and efforts required to initiate clinical trials by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Cooperative Reproductive Medicine Network. Methods: Collection of data from the same six main clinical sites for three current clinical trials and two past clinical trials, including time from institutional review board submission to approval, pages submitted, consent form length, number of required attachments, other regulatory requirements, order of review at central or local sites, and language in documents at individual participating sites. Results from two past clinical trials were also included. Results: While time required for actual institutional review board submission’s review and initial approval was reduced with use of a single institutional review board for multicenter trials (from a mean of 66.7–24.0 days), total time was increased (to a mean of 111.2 or 123.3 days). In addition to single institutional review board approval, all institutions required local approval of some components (commonly consent language and use of local language), which varied considerably. The single institutional review board relied on local institutions for adding or removing personnel, conflict of interest review, and auditing of activities. Conclusion: A single institutional review board reduced time for initial review and approval of protocols and informed consents, although time for the entire process was increased, as individual institutions retained oversight of components of required regulatory review. In order to best achieve the National Institute of Health’s goals for improved efficiency in initiation and conduct of multisite clinical research, greater coordination with local institutional review boards is key to streamlining and accelerating initiation of multisite clinical research.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. e0135997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bärbel Kästner ◽  
Simone Behre ◽  
Nadine Lutz ◽  
Friederike Bürger ◽  
Steffen Luntz ◽  
...  

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