View source for Theme:3de97c9d-649b-498e-a71d-e8e37834bc9b

{{Theme
|Theme Type=Misconduct & Misbehaviors
|Has Parent Theme=Theme:B85e92f1-793a-4e89-a425-6ed4fe464a50
|Title=Ignoring substantial safety risks of studies
|Is About=Ignoring safety risks when planning and conducting a study is a questionable research practice in study design. Not considering potential physical, psychological, social, legal or economic risks can harm researchers, research participants, and wider community.
|Important Because=Whether you carry out research in an academic setting or in the field, there is a variety of safety risks that could affect researchers and research participants. Depending on research areas, different kinds of safety risks may occur, ranging from physical (experiencing pain or other side effects from medication) to psychological harm (stress).<ref>Drew Clifford J, Hardman Michael L, Hosp Jon L. Designing and Conducting Research in Education. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc.; 2008. Online publication date: 2014 Dec 22. [cited 2021 Sept 2]. Available from: https://methods.sagepub.com/Book/designing-and-conducting-research-in-education. </ref> Furthermore, faculties at academic sites, such as chemical and microbiological laboratories, may pose hazardous risks.<ref>Dehdashti A, Fatemi F, Jannati M, Asadi F, Kangarloo M B. Applying health, safety, and environmental risk assessment at academic settings. BMC Public Health. 2020;20(1328):1-7.</ref> Potential risks that can occur in social research are related to data or perspectives that impact on feelings, values and viewpoints of people involved in research.<ref>McCosker H, Bernard A, Gerber R. Undertaking Sensitive Research: Issues and Strategies for Meeting the Safety Needs of All Participants. Forum Qual. Soc. Res. 2021;2(1). </ref> Fieldwork particularly poses some risks, for example conducting interviews in high-risk locations, such as in war zones or in countries with authoritarian regimes.<ref>European Commission. Ethics in Social Science and Humanities. 2018 Oct. [cited 2021 Sept 2]. Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/other/hi/h2020_ethics-soc-science-humanities_en.pdf. </ref> Not considering safety risks in research can result in tragic events including death.
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|Important For=Educators; Policy makers; Researchers; Universities
|Has Best Practice=VIGOR (Vioxx Gastrointestinal Outcomes Research) study is one of the most known cases where researchers ignored safety risks. The study aimed to examine if a new drug Vioxx, produced by drug maker Merck, would cause fewer gastrointestinal side effects for the treatment of the rheumatoid arthritis than naproxen. Over 8,000 patients participated in the study, half of them taking Vioxx, and the other half naproxen. As it turned out, the risk of serious heart problems and death was twice as higher for patients using Vioxx, than for those using naproxen, however, the study decided to ignore the risks and obscure the results.<ref>Krumholz H M, Ross J S, Presler A H, Egilman D S. What have we learnt from Vioxx? BMJ. 2007;334(7585):120-123.</ref><ref name=":0">Prakash S, Valentine V. Timeline: The Rise and Fall of Vioxx. NPR. 2007 Nov 10. [cited 2021 Sept 2]. Available from:  https://www.npr.org/2007/11/10/5470430/timeline-the-rise-and-fall-of-vioxx?t=1630493248177&t=1630497533212. </ref> Five years after Vioxx’s launch, Merck withdrew the drug from the market, but by that time it had already sold billions of dollars of the drug<ref name=":0" />. Another study published in the medical journal Lancet estimates that 88,000 Americans had heart attacks from taking Vioxx, and 38,000 of them died.<ref name=":0" />
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|Related To Resource=Resource:C1141bae-df2e-4f56-85aa-7e26dc38197b; Resource:05f04469-5834-4411-9217-c2551a0c745a
|Related To Theme=Theme:E5629f68-81f6-490d-84d6-fd1e63b8dbc7; Theme:41458aa3-fabf-41a5-bd87-3ea49b03b783; Theme:0d054575-ca21-4209-b7c5-6120fc0ed647; Theme:D44fd22a-ed5d-4120-a78b-8881747131fd
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{{Tags
|Has Virtue And Value=Honesty; Transparency
|Has Good Practice And Misconduct=Balancing harms and benefits; Biosecurity; Consent; Research with humans; Safety
}}