Alison is a nurse who is working in an endocrine clinic part-time while also working on her Ph.D. She is studying two different approaches to patient education about diabetes management. She is putting together her research ethics application. Alison makes a case for the logistical necessity of her being involved in recruiting patients. Her colleague and friend, Jason, will also help to recruit patients for the study. Alison proposes that she will disclose that the research is for her Ph.D and that the patient’s decision about participation will not affect care, but Alison and Jason aren’t sure about what Jason should tell patients about their relationship.
Do you think that Jason has a conflict of interest? If so, how should it be managed? And does Alison’s disclosure adequately address concerns about her conflict of interest?
Resources:
- TED talk: Beware Conflict of Interest, by Dan Ariely. 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8Y8FK8gonc
- Quinn Grundy, Adam G. Dunn, Florence T. Bourgeois. 2018. Prevalence of Disclosed Conflicts of Interest in Biomedical Research and Associations With Journal Impact Factors and Altmetric Scores. Research Letter; JAMA 319(4):408-409. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2670246?widget=personalizedcontent&previousarticle=2666008
- Karen Born & Andreas Laupacis. 2012. Managing Conflict of Interest in Research. Healthy Debate, February 2, 2012. http://healthydebate.ca/2012/02/topic/politics-of-health-care/conflicts-of-interest
- Trudo Lemmens. 3.4.3 Personal Conflict of Interest in Medical Research: What Is It? What Can Be Done About It? http://www.royalcollege.ca/portal/page/portal/rc/common/documents/bioethics/section3/case_3_4_3_e.html
