ABSTRACT
Disease animal model is an indispensable part of studying the pathogenesis and treatment of diseases.Review of the ethics and welfare is the necessary measure to ensure the quality of scientific research and promote the scientific and rational use of laboratory animals.In the review practice,it is found that most applicants are difficult to accurately understand the items listed in the application form and ethical principles related to items.Therefore,a practical and feasible set of ethical guidelines for animal experiments is necessary.This review focuses on the legal and ethical basis of developing oral disease animal models,and divides the methods of establishing oral disease animal models into physical methods,chemical methods,biological methods,and combined methods.It also elaborates on the ethical and welfare review points of different modeling methods and model evaluation methods.Hopefully,ethical censors and project applicants may get more understanding of ethical review for disease animal models,and ultimately improve the standardization and applicability of animal models.
ABSTRACT
The release of Guidelines to Strengthen the Governance over Ethics in Science and Technology marked that China's ethical governance system of science and technology has entered a new stage.The research and practice on ethics in science and technology in China are carried out along two approaches.One approach is to derive the rules of specific science and practice from the principles of general ethics.The other is to gradually form ethical governance principles and consensus for a specific type of phenomenon or problem in the process of science and technology,starting from scientific research problems and scientific and technological events and cases.Medical ethics research has also formed the tradition of medical ethics and modern bioethics in this way.In the practice of ethical governance,medical ethics is at the forefront of scientific and technological ethics,forming a"pilot area"for the research and development of scientific and technological ethics,an"explorer"for the institutionalization of ethical review,and a"demonstration area"for scientific and technological ethical governance.The release of ethical governance opinions is not the end of research on medical ethics governance,and medical ethics needs to have new achievements.Firstly,rethinking the theoretical basis and methodology of medical ethics and adhering to the guidance of Marxist theory.Secondly,a rethinking of the two research paths and how they can balance development and support each other.Thirdly,rethinking the relationship between ethics and the rule of law,and continuously improving the level of legalization of ethical governance.
ABSTRACT
Economic development drives the increase of endogenous demand,and Internet medicine integrates regional medical resources,expanding the fairness of the public's access to medical and health services.However,it is also accompanied an ethical crisis with the development of technology,which requires continuous standardization and practice.Starting from the principle of medical fairness,this paper sorted out the main advantaged characteristics of the development of Internet medicine from the aspects of data fairness,cost equity,opportunity equity,and educational equity.The existing ethical problems of Internet medicine were explored including unfair protection of ethical review mechanisms,unfair data collection of scientific and technological subjects,unfair distribution of benefits and risks,and unfair utilization of Internet medical resources.It also proposed the governance paths of compacting the subject responsibility,perfecting review and supervision,improving the sharing mechanism,bridging the digital divide,strengthening risk prevention,protecting the citizens'rights and interests,strengthening education and guidance,and increasing grassroots investment.
ABSTRACT
Stem cell clinical research is a hot frontier research. The ethical review of stem cell clinical research is full of challenges. Currently, clinical researches lack specific operational guidelines. Considered the related laws and regulations, and the operability of practical work, experts from the field of stem cells, such as law, ethics and management, will form a consensus on the basis of full discussion and continuous revision. It will provide reference for the operation of the ethics committee of corresponding institutions, and lay a certain foundation for the establishment of national expert consensus in the future, so as to promote the effective guidance of ethical review practice and quality evaluation of stem cell research.
ABSTRACT
Based on the sampling survey data of 11 164 medical researchers in China, this paper analyzed the understanding, attitude and compliance of medical researchers on scientific research ethics in China. The survey found that although most medical researchers claim to have more understanding of scientific research ethics, the level of understanding of scientific research ethics is not optimistic; the channels to scientific research ethics knowledge are diversified, but the standardized training channels are insufficient; most researchers held the positive attitude toward following the ethical norms, but those male, youth under 35, with senior professional titles, or from northeast China held negative attitude relatively; more than half of the researchers claimed that the supervision of research ethics in China was basically in place, but some people said that the violation of scientific research ethics was common, and some researchers reported that there was a phenomenon of "direct seal consent and reply" in ethical review. Compared with medical institutions, enterprises and universities are the weak links of scientific research ethics training, education and review. Based on the above actuality, it puts forward policy suggestions to strengthen the scientific research ethics training and ethics review requirements.
ABSTRACT
Based on the data of a national sampling survey, this paper described and analyzed the understanding, attitude, behavior, and their differences and influencing factors of Chinese medical researchers on ethical review of biomedical research involving human subject. The survey found that researchers with master’s degree or below, working in scientific research institutes or universities, no overseas experience, living in the central region and not serving as committee members have relatively poor acquaintance of "ethical review" ; researchers with the characteristics of male, the younger age, living in the western region, knowing less about "ethical review" , agree more with the view that "ethical review consumes too much time and energy" ; researchers who serve as members of the ethics committee are more likely to participate in scientific research projects that have not passed the ethical review process. Therefore, recommendations are put forward: comprehensively popularizing the training of ethical review, focusing on strengthening the vulnerable groups and regions, strictly implementing ethical review laws and regulations, and strengthening evaluation and supervision, so as to improve the service quality and efficiency of ethical review in multiple directions.
ABSTRACT
In order to understand the status quo of ethical review of clinical research on the defecation function of patients with rectal cancer after sphincter-preserving surgery, analyze its causes and put forward corresponding suggestions, to arouse researchers’ attention to ethical review in subsequent relevant clinical studies. The ethical review of literatures related to the defecation function of patients with rectal cancer after sphincter-preserving surgery published on CNKI in recent 10 years was sorted out and summarized. The results showed that the ethical review of clinical research papers on defecation function of patients with rectal cancer after sphincter-preserving surgery was not optimistic. We should strengthen the ethical training of researchers, improve the ethical awareness of researchers, strictly implement the ethical norms of paper publication, strengthen the ethical requirements of manuscript contracts, perfect the ethical review system, and pay attention to the examination and supervision of informed consent, so as to promote the construction of ethical examination and approval norms of clinical research documents.
ABSTRACT
The ethical governance of science and technology is a kind of practical ethics, which develops in the process of continuously solving the ethical problems and ethical conflicts arising from scientific and technological activities. Ethical governance has common requirements and professional standards. Health-related science and technology activities, including the application of life science and artificial intelligence in health and medical field, make the medical ethical governance face common and unique challenges. The supervision and ethical review should consider the speciality of life science and medical research, and bring the existing ethical review system into full play. However, the focus, emphasis and standards of ethical governance have changed with the application of some technologies (ex. the next-generation sequencing, gene editing, and artificial intelligence). Actions should be taken to strengthen the ethical governance and promote ethics in advance with science and technological implementation in health and medical field. Here in this article, the classified, hierarchical supervision and ethical review strategies are discussed; then some potential effective organization and mechanisms for regional ethics committees are introduced. Promoting the medical education and continuing education of ethical governance of science and technology is also recommended.
ABSTRACT
Based on the characteristics of qualitative research, such as openness, flexibility, interaction and subjectivity, this paper discussed the related ethical challenges and responsibilities faced by institutional ethics committees and researchers in ethical review, informed consent, privacy protection and researchers’ influence in the application of medical and health fields. Ethics committees need to adopt review standards suitable for qualitative research characteristics and improve their review ability. Researchers need to consider from the perspective of research participants, improve their scientific ability and ethical awareness in the whole process of design, data collection, analysis and reporting, truly respect and protect the rights and interests of research participants, and finally produce valuable research evidence.
ABSTRACT
In order to explore the ethical review experience of organ donation and transplantation after the death of citizens, and provide reference value for medical institutions to carry out corresponding ethical review. By using descriptive research, purpose sampling method and the principle of data saturation, 10 members and secretaries of ethics committee on clinical application of organ transplantation technology were finally selected as respondents for semi-structured interviews. The Colaizzi 7-step analysis method was adopted to analyze, summarize and refine the theme. The results showed that the ethical review experience of organ donation and transplantation after the death of citizens included four themes: the responsibilities of ethics committee, the key points of ethics review, the form of ethics review conference and its advantages and disadvantages, and the construction of the ethics committee of organ transplantation. Therefore, there are defects in the ethical review of organ donation and transplantation in medical institutions at present. These can be remedied by enriching elements of the ethical review following the four principles of medical ethics, refining the laws related to organ donation after citizens’ death, constructing a reasonable and efficient pattern of ethical review conference, and establishing a robust and appropriate operation mode of organ transplantation ethics committee.
ABSTRACT
The construction of clinical application and ethics committee of human organ transplantation technology is constantly improving in China. The review of clinical application and ethics committee of human organ transplantation technology should follow the principle of prudence, with high requirements for timeliness and cumbersome preparation, and living organ transplantation needs to weigh the risk benefit ratio of both donors and recipients. According to the problems often existing in China’s clinical application and ethics committee of human organ transplantation technology, such as lack of supervision and guidance, lack of unified standard operating procedures, insufficient attention to the rights and interests of organ donors after citizens’death, the difficulties to judge and implement of brain death, lack of psychological assessment requirements and procedures, inadequate informed consent, etc. It can be solved from the following aspects: ensuring the independence of ethical review, strengthening the risk benefit ratio assessment of both donors and recipients of living organ transplantation, standardizing the review content, strictly implementing informed consent and medical psychological assessment to reduce the risks of both sides, enriching review methods to ensure timeliness, and strengthening the ethical review and supervision of organ donation.
ABSTRACT
It is the responsibility of a clinical research institution to protect the rights and interests of research subjects. For the full process supervision of clinical research projects, the construction of a Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) which is suitable to the hospital’s situation can gradually improve the ethical review quality, and provide comprehensive protection measures for participants and potential participants throughout the entire clinical research process. Combined with the characteristics of clinical research and ethical review of Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM), this paper introduced the construction of an HRPP system that highlights TCM characteristics. At the same time, this paper systematically analyzed the division of responsibilities, communication and cooperation of different committees and departments within the HRPP system to ensure the effective operation of the entire HRPP system, improve the quality of TCM clinical research and the protection level of the HRPP system, in order to achieve the goal of promote the healthy, orderly and scientific development of clinical research.
ABSTRACT
In the process of exploring standardized and efficient ethical review models for multi-center drug clinical trials, the ethical review alliance emerged as the times require. Compared with mature ethics committees, higher requirements have been put forward for the "young" ethics committees. By analyzing problems existing in review work of "young" ethics committees in the ethics review alliance, this paper discussed the measures to improve the review quality of "young" ethics committees and promote the standardized and efficient operation of the alliance, and put forward countermeasures and suggestions for improving the homogenization of ethics review and accelerating the clinical research process of innovative drugs.
ABSTRACT
For multi-center clinical research, how to ensure the quality of ethical review and improve the efficiency of ethical review through cooperation among centers is an important direction for clinical research management departments and research parties to explore. By combing and analyzing the existing pattern of multi-center ethical review at home and abroad, combining the current situation of the ethical review and management development in China, taking cancer clinical research as the breakthrough point, it was advocated to establish a cooperative review led by professional institute in domestic, on the basis of extensive and in-depth training exchanges and effective communication on the same platform, collaborative review, ensure quality and efficiency, so as to promote and implement the "mutual recognition" of ethical review. Then, this paper further put forward the concept of "whole-process linkage" in the ethical management process of multi-center clinical research, and pointed out that all research parties should clarify their responsibilities, enhance their awareness and ability, and jointly and comprehensively implement the protection of subjects among clinical researchers.
ABSTRACT
The ethics committee of organ transplantation technology and clinical application in a hospital has encountered some difficulties and typical cases in its review work and practice for many years. Sometimes, it is difficult to make a decision in these dilemmas. Based on the previous experience of the hospital in the ethical review of organ donation and transplantation, combined with two typical cases, this paper discussed and analyzed two review points of whether the voluntary unpaid donation and the principle of informed consent were met, and whether the risk-benefit ratio was reasonable, and put forward relevant ethical and legal countermeasure for further research by institutional ethics committees and other parties, in order to provide reference for discussing the practical problems and ethical confusion of ethical review of organ donation and transplantation.
ABSTRACT
The Measures for Ethical Review of Life Sciences and Medical Research Involving Humans responded to the new issues faced by ethical review arising from the development of science and technology， society， and ethics， as well as the requirements of laws and regulations for ethical review. It adapted to the continuous increase of investment in scientific and technological innovation research and the development of biotechnology in China， and expanded the applicable institutions and research types of the ethical review system. Facing the ethical review of life sciences and medical research involving humans is one of the practical forms of responsible research and innovation. Therefore， it is necessary to establish and improve the ethical review system， implement the “subject responsibility” of life sciences and medical research involving humans， carry out classified and hierarchical bioethics education， and enhance the consciousness of researchers， research managers， and students in responsible research and innovation.
ABSTRACT
Regarding biological samples， compared to the Measures of Ethical Review of Biomedical Research Involving Humans， the newly released Measures of Ethical Review of Life Science and Medical Research Involving Humans updated the definitions， clarified the scope， defined the responsibilities of the subject， as well as emphasized the management system， ethical review， and informed consent. By comparing and analyzing the current management status of biological samples at home and abroad， it was found that there were still many problems in the management and ethical review of biological samples in China， such as a chaotic management system of biological samples， unclear responsible entities for management， lack of widely recognized management standards of biological samples in the industry， absence of ethics committee， the non-standard ethical review， the inadequacy or inability to implement informed consent， and the difficulty in providing feedback on research results. Therefore， it is recommended to establish a standardized management system of biological samples， conduct a standardized and effective ethical review， as well as sufficient and necessary informed consent， in order to comply with the requirements of the Measures of Ethical Review of Life Science and Medical Research Involving Humans on biological samples， and enhancing the quality of the management of biological samples in China.
ABSTRACT
To further standardize the ethical review of life science and medical research involving humans， the National Health Commission， the Ministry of Education， the Ministry of Science and Technology， and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine jointly issued the Measures of the Ethical Review of Life Science and Medical Research Involving Humans in 2023. The provisions concerning research related to health information data within it include： emphasizing the protection of personal information and privacy rights， personal information can only be collected， stored， and used under the premise that research participants know and permit， and must not be disclosed to third-party without the authorization of research participants； the ethical committee should focus on reviewing the adequacy of confidentiality measures of personal information； for research that provides information and data or cooperation with external organizations， it is necessary to fully understand the research， conduct a full ethical review， and clarify the use， processing， and disposal after completion of information data through an agreement. The research institutions should improve the information data governance and supervision system in conjunction with the key points of information data management in the new regulations. The initial ethical review should focus on the risk-benefit ratio of the research， the reasonableness of the informed consent procedure， the feasibility of the opt-out procedure， the protection measures for the privacy of the research participants， and the data management capability of the research team. The knowledge training of researchers should be strengthened， policy advisory services should be provided for them， and even a unified information data management platform should be built for them from the overall level of research institutions. The ethical follow-up review emphasizes whether the researchers continue to protect the participant’s right to independent information or personal information， and privacy. It is believed that through a series of governance measures， the health information data of research participants in China will be better protected， thus safeguarding their legitimate rights and interests.
ABSTRACT
Decentralized clinical trials （DCT） are bringing new changes to clinical trials， the core concept of “patient-centered” must be adhered， and the safety and rights of research participants must be adequately safeguarded. Although DCTs have similarities with traditional clinical trials， they are not suitable for all clinical trials， and are more suitable for oral administration， stable condition of study participants， and longer duration of treatment in clinical trials. DCT， elements must be selected based on the characteristics of clinical trials， and strike a balance between improving the sense of gain， safety， and rights and dignity of research participants， as well as the quality of data collected. Currently， DCT in China face many challenges. To actively promote DCTs in China， regulatory regulations and guiding principles should be improved. Based on patient-centered design principles， the first discussion requires real-time online communication. Researchers should provide more clinical trial services， improve risk control and accessibility of medical assistance， use third-party convenient payments， ensure fair recruitment of research participants， consider compliance， validate digital health technology， remote monitoring and electronic informed consent compliance， ensure the security of data collection， transmission， and analysis， as well as strengthen multi-party training. Ethical review is one of the important means to protect the safety and rights of research participants. Ethics committees should focus on appropriate DCTs elements that are patient-centered， compliance and effectiveness of electronic informed consent， processing and reporting of security information， privacy protection of data collection， compliance of remote monitoring， family health follow-up， management of biological samples and experimental medical products， and training programs. The author believed that the complementarity and combination with traditional clinical trials will make DCTs elements implemented more easily and smoothly. By leveraging the power of scientific and technological advances， DCTs will boost the speed of China’s drug and medical device research and development， enhance international competitiveness， and benefit more patients.
ABSTRACT
In the implementation of exemption from ethical review， medical institutions equate exemption from ethical review with no ethical review or simple review， misunderstand the scope of exemption from ethical review， confuse the concepts of de-identification and anonymization， and equate privacy with personal information. The implementation faced challenges such as the coordination of conditions for exempt review with other regulations， the lack of clear decision-making subjects for exempting from ethical review， the legality and compliance of using general informed consent for biological samples and information data， as well as non-traceability and the risk of being re-identified of anonymous information for exemption from ethical review. Measures such as improving relevant laws and regulations， perfecting the construction and management of information databases and biological sample libraries， strengthening the project management and process supervision of exemption from ethical review， and implementing scientific review can ensure the legal and compliant implementation of exemption from ethical review by medical and health institutions.