Jodi Cohen's story about research ethics violations, and the subsequent pulling of $3.1 million in grant funding, is a terrific case study that shows your students what can happen when research ethics are violated. It is also an excellent example of good, thorough science writing and investigative reporting.
Short version of the story: UIC psychiatrist Mani Pavuluri was studying lithium in children. She was doing this on NIHM's dime. And she violated research protocols.
The bullet points, copy and pasted out of Cohen's article, are a summary of the biggest ethical shortcomings of the study:
So NIHM asked for their money back ($3.1 million) and the university and research are now being investigated by the government.
This example also highlights that IRBs are NOT just some rubber stamp for researchers. They are in charge of enforcing federal rules for research.
Another interesting fact: UIC tried to block ProPublica from publishing the story. This was described by Retraction Watch. Retraction Watch describes their own blocked attempts to get to the bottom of the story, and praises Cohen for her success in bringing information to light.
A few ideas on using this as a case study or class example:
-An example of excellent science writing. I try to make my students savvier statistics consumers by showing them examples of bad science reporting. This is example will go on my reading list as well, to show what systematic, slow journalism looks like and why we need investigative reporters.
-Cohen does a good job of describing the process by which the poor research was revealed and includes interviews with a child who was involved in the study.
-Specific examples of ethical issues in research.
-Kids are a protected class, per Health and Human Services.
-I am a psychologist is like statistics and research. As such, this example is specific to psychology, but also to anyone teaching statistics or RM to future health care providers.
Short version of the story: UIC psychiatrist Mani Pavuluri was studying lithium in children. She was doing this on NIHM's dime. And she violated research protocols.
The bullet points, copy and pasted out of Cohen's article, are a summary of the biggest ethical shortcomings of the study:
This example also highlights that IRBs are NOT just some rubber stamp for researchers. They are in charge of enforcing federal rules for research.
Another interesting fact: UIC tried to block ProPublica from publishing the story. This was described by Retraction Watch. Retraction Watch describes their own blocked attempts to get to the bottom of the story, and praises Cohen for her success in bringing information to light.
A few ideas on using this as a case study or class example:
-An example of excellent science writing. I try to make my students savvier statistics consumers by showing them examples of bad science reporting. This is example will go on my reading list as well, to show what systematic, slow journalism looks like and why we need investigative reporters.
-Cohen does a good job of describing the process by which the poor research was revealed and includes interviews with a child who was involved in the study.
-Specific examples of ethical issues in research.
-Kids are a protected class, per Health and Human Services.
-I am a psychologist is like statistics and research. As such, this example is specific to psychology, but also to anyone teaching statistics or RM to future health care providers.
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