Posted by danf on January 25, 2001, at 5:19:05
In reply to Institutional Review Board policies, posted by Dr. Bob on January 25, 2001, at 3:33:27
There are 2 very different issues here.
The first: does an IRB need to decide if a support board is research, in & of itself ?
I think not. This board stands alone, on it's own merits & has public access. What many of the posters do not understand is that posting here is akin to writing a letter to a newspaper editor. If one does not want the whole world to have access, then do not post.
pseudo names ( screen names ) are available to protect the identity & privacy of all who post here. BUT, just like when your letter is published in a newspaper, all the information in posts is available for anyone to read....
The second question is: Does an IRB need to give consent when public information is used to write a paper that compiles information & draws conclusions.
Again, I think not. There is no doctor patient relationship here. There is no expectation of privacy. There is no copyrite ownership of a post by the poster, once it is made here...
& again the analogy/comparison of a letter to a newspaper editor holds. I can see no reason why an IRB would have any jurisdiction over evaluation of public published information.
The net medium of publication does not confer any special or unique rights to the posters here.
I could legally & ethically do a research paper based on information posted on this BB... It would not require the permission or even notification of Dr Bob or of any of the posters...
poster:danf
thread:315
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20001124/msgs/316.html