Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica1 Ethical considerations in observational research in the age of computer, internet, and biobank K. Arnold Chan 陳建煒, MD, ScD, FISPE Harvard School of Public Health i3 Drug Safety

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica2 Potential Conflict of Interest Part time employee of i3 Drug Safety Adjunct Associate Professor, Harvard School of Public Health Co-editor of a book, no royalty received Public health worker

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica3 Outline Why I am giving this talk ☺ As a seasoned IRB member As an investigator (Conflict of interest in research) General ethical principles in biomedical research Special considerations about observational studies conducted with large healthcare databases The internet generation

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Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica5 Harvard Pilgrim IRB Experienced IRB administrator Competent and dedicated chair A half-time job IRB members from different background Mainly deal with observational studies Monthly meetings, supplemented by correspondence Modest compensation

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica6 PRIMR ( Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research

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Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica8 My own experience in Taiwan

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica9 08/10/04/top_psychiatrist_failed_to_report_drug_income/ Funding from pharmaceutical industry

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica10 Harvard Medical School

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica11 Different types of conflict of interest (COI) in research Financial COI Easiest to measure Certainly not the only type of COI Personal and institutional Non-financial COI Family / personal relationship Academic promotion …

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica12 Royalty as a majors source of income for medical centers

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica13 General ethical principles in public health and clinical research (from a U.S. perspective) Respect for Persons / Autonomy Beneficence / Non-maleficence Justice Based on these principles, specific guidelines have been developed Intervention studies Observational studies Primary data collection Utilize secondary data

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica14 Is there a cultural component in ethical consideration? Individual right vs. common good Historical background Empirical evidence?

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica15 maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext =denmark+epidemiology&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resou rcetype=HWCIT

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica16 Example of a database study

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica17 Three related topics in database research Privacy Right to be left alone Derived from the Autonomy Principle Confidentiality Legal requirement Breach of confidentiality may result in substantial damage to individuals Financial Social stigma and discrimination Data security Information Technology standard to prevent breach of data

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica18 Ethical consideration for database research Striking the right balance between privacy and public good. Lancet 2006; 367: 275 “… the tension between the vital need to respect the privacy of patients and the important task of medical research using large population datasets.” Autonomy vs. Beneficence Justice Everyone, including study subjects, may benefit

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica19 How to put these principles into practice? Competent Privacy Board / Institutional Review Board / Human Subjects Committee review Legislation to provide the legal framework Training of investigators and research staff Utilize Information Technology to protect confidentiality without losing efficiency e.g. Group policy, individual policy, and audit trail Open dialogue with all stakeholders Investigators Patients / consumers

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica20 research-administration/human-subjects- training-requirements/

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica21 research-administration/human-subjects- training-requirements/

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Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica23 The consumers’ view? U.S. Consumer Reports 2000 Aug issue, P 26 “Patients are well served if doctors and hospitals have fast access to accurate records.” “With proper safeguards against re-identification, analysis of government, hospital, and health-related databases yields a gold mine of information on public-health trends and the effectiveness of various types of care.” Lancet 2006; 367: 275 “The Academy’s report points to a paucity of evidence about patients’ preferences for and attitudes towards participating in research, and calls for more involvement with the public to get a fuller and more accurate picture of their views.”

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica24 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the U.S. Use of Protected Health Information (PHI) for research purpose Explicitly specify data elements that are considered to be personally identifiable Privacy Board / Institutional Review Board / Human Subjects Committee can grant waiver of individual authorization to investigators De-identified datasets can be shared across institutions

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica25 Institute of Medicine Report in 2009 The committee’s conclusion is that the HIPAA Privacy Rule does not protect privacy as well as it should, and that, as currently implemented, the Privacy Rule impedes important health research. Privacy Rule in the U.S. is a work in progress.

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica26 IOM Recommendations I. Congress should authorize HHS and other relevant federal agencies to develop a new approach to protecting privacy that would apply uniformly to all health research. When this new approach is implemented, HHS should exempt health research from the HIPAA Privacy Rule. → Apply privacy, security, transparency, and accountability obligations to all health records used in research. (If national policy makers choose to continue to rely on the HIPAA Privacy Rule rather than adopt a new federal approach (Recommendation I), the committee recommends the following:)

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica27 IOM Recommendations II. HHS should revise the HIPAA Privacy Rule and associated guidance. A. HHS should reduce variability in interpretations of the HIPAA Privacy Rule in health research by covered entities, Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and Privacy Boards through revised and expanded guidance and harmonization.

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica28 IOM Recommendations 1. HHS should develop a dynamic, ongoing process to increase empirical knowledge about current “best practices” for privacy protection in responsible research using protected health information (PHI), and promote the use of those best practices. 2. HHS should encourage greater use of partially deidentified data called “limited datasets” and develop clear guidance on how to set up and comply with the associated data use agreements more efficiently and effectively, in order to enhance privacy in research by expanding use and usability of data with direct identifiers removed. 3. HHS should clarify the distinctions between “research” and “practice” to ensure appropriate IRB and Privacy Board oversight of PHI disclosures for these activities. 4. HHS guidance documents should simplify the HIPAA Privacy Rule’s provisions regarding the use of PHI in activities preparatory to research and harmonize those provisions with the Common Rule, in order to facilitate appropriate IRB and Privacy Board oversight of identification and recruitment of potential research participants.

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica29 B. HHS should develop guidance materials to facilitate more effective use of existing data and materials for health research and public health purposes. 1. HHS should develop guidance that clearly states that individuals can authorize use of PHI stored in databases or associated with biospecimen banks for specified future research under the HIPAA Privacy Rule with IRB/PrivacyBoard oversight, as is allowed under the Common Rule, in order to facilitate use of repositories for health research. 2. HHS should develop clear guidance for use of a single form that permits individuals to authorize use and disclosure of health information in a clinical trial and to authorize the storage of their biospecimens collected in conjunction with the clinical trial, in order to simplify authorization for interrelated research activities. 3. HHS should clarify the circumstances under which DNA samples or sequences are considered PHI, in order to facilitate appropriate use of DNA in health research. 4. HHS should develop a mechanism for linking data from multiple sources so that more useful datasets can be made available for research in a manner that protects privacy, confidentiality, and security.

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica30 C. HHS should revise provisions of the HIPAA Privacy Rule that entail heavy burdens for covered entities and impede research without providing substantive improvements in patient privacy. 1. HHS should reform the requirements for the accounting of disclosures of PHI for research. 2. HHS should simplify the criteria that IRBs and Privacy Boards use in making determinations for when they can waive the requirements to obtain authorization from each patient whose PHI will be used for a research study, in order to facilitate appropriate authorization requirements for responsible research.

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica31 Regardless of whether Recommendation I or II is implemented, the following recommendations, which are independent of the Privacy Rule, should be adopted: III. Implement changes necessary for both policy options above (Recommendations I and II). A. All institutions (both covered entities and non- covered entities) in the health research community should take strong measures to safeguard the security of health data. → HHS should also support the development and use of new security technologies and self-evaluation standards.

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica32 IOM Recommendations B. HHS—or, as necessary, Congress—should provide reasonable protection against civil suits for members of Institutional Review Boards and Privacy Boards who serve in good faith to encourage service on IRBs and Privacy Boards. → But no protection for willful or wanton misconduct. C. HHS and researchers should take steps to provide the public with more information about health research by: 1. Disseminating research results to study participants and the public. 2. Educating the public about how research is done and what value it provides.

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica33 A U.K. report in Interpreting the legal framework 2. Improving regulatory processes 3. Developing good practice in research using personal data, including issues related to anonymisation and consent 4. Harnessing the opportunities of the NHS National IT programme 5. Engaging the public

Oct 27, 2009Academia Sinica34 Observational studies in the age of internet and computer Social networking sites and concept of privacy

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