HLSC641: Ethical Considerations and Informed Consent Research Essay

This essay critically examines the ethical considerations surrounding informed consent in health sciences research, specifically arguing that it is mandatory even when the research is designed to benefit only an individual. The essay begins by outlining the five core ethical principles of research, emphasizing informed consent as a cornerstone of ethical practice. It then defines informed consent and its stages, highlighting the participant's right to information and the ability to make autonomous decisions about their involvement. The essay counters the argument that informed consent is unnecessary in cases of individual benefit, asserting that such a stance is unethical due to the potential for undisclosed use of shared information and the associated risks. It further argues that even perceived minimal risks and a lack of understanding of a participant’s background makes the absence of informed consent unacceptable. The essay references the potential for adverse reactions to medical research and the violation of a participant's right to refuse treatment. It concludes by underscoring informed consent as a fundamental element of ethical research, essential for data reliability and the protection of participants' rights.

Running head: HEALTH SCIENCES RESEARCH
Health Sciences Research
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1HEALTH SCIENCES RESEARCH
Topic: Informed consent is not needed if the research can only benefit an individual.
Research is based on five ethical principles which include minimizing the risk of the
participants from harm, obtaining the participant’s informed consent, protecting the
anonymity and confidentiality of the participants, not engaging in deceptive practices and
providing the participants the right to withdraw (Miller & Boulton, 2007). Among them,
conducting a research which includes participants who have been informed of the research
process and outcomes and the complete implication of their participation is the idea about
informed consent. This essay argues that informed consent is mandatory even if the research
only benefits an individual.
Informed consent is one of the founding principle that constitutes ethical research
practices and it is obtained before a participant enters into a research. At the minimum, the
participants must be informed about what the research entails and what they are consenting
to. The first stage of informed consent includes informing the participants and giving them
time to reflect on the provided information and respond to the researcher. There is no
pressure for responding immediately (Nusbaum, Douglas, Damus, Paasche-Orlow & Estrella-
Luna, 2017). The second part includes the explanation of the terms of the research and often
they are provided in documents. The participants can give consent in writing or by telephonic
conversation. Sometimes, in online surveys, taking part in the surveys implies consent and
that is acceptable. The fundamental reason that informed consent is necessary because people
have right to information. Informed consent gives them the right to understand and decide for
themselves whether they want to be included in a research process.
According to Miller and Boulton (2007), informed consent defines the appropriate
relationship between researchers and the participants. The idea and conditions of informed
consent has changed over time and is becoming more complex in nature. The reason behind
this is the increase in awareness of human rights and ethical considerations in research. Data
collection in research may include many personal and cultural data as well as sensitive
information that people might not be comfortable sharing with the whole world. While many
might think that not taking informed consent is acceptable in cases when research is helping
only one individual, it is unethical as there is no guarantee that the participant is aware of the
use that their shared information is being put to (Dranseika, Piasecki & Waligora, 2017).
Without their knowledge, the shared information might become the reason for unnecessary
complication as disclosing sensitive information, however minimal is unethical.

2HEALTH SCIENCES RESEARCH
Though there are arguments that informed consent is not necessary for emergency
research or in researches there is minimal risk for the participants, which is cannot be
supported. If this opinion is taken into account, unethical scientific practice might harm the
participants that only means unnecessary lawsuits. Moreover, the minimal risk that the
argument talks about is only a perceived risk and the opinion or the view of the participant is
an unknown territory (Koyfman, Reddy, Hizlan, Leek & Kodish, 2016). Neither does the
researcher know about their background to take such decisions about another individual.
Conducting research without informed consent is a form of trickery and there is no insurance
for the participants if anything does affect them. This kind of incidents are common in
medical researches. If medical research are conducted without informed consent, thinking
that the drug has minimal health risk, someone might be unlucky enough to develop a
reaction or intolerance for the drug or might develop a certain condition due to the drug. This
means that person’s life falls in danger.
Not informing the medical research participants about research also takes away one of
their basic human rights of refusing treatment (Dal-Ré et al., 2019). The creation of the
ethical considerations of research are based on the right of people and thus, taking their right
to refuse treatment is a crime in itself. One cannot force or trick somebody to take part in a
research even if it benefits only one person. Another thing is necessary to consider here. A
research is conducted for the greater good or the benefit of mass people not one individual.
Moreover, the number of people being actually benefitted is not the actual point of research.
No research can actually contribute to personal benefit and thus, informed consent remains
mandatory (Heinrichs, 2019).
From the above arguments, it is evident that no matter the implication of the research,
the field that it is concerned to and the immediateness of the research, informed consent is the
basis of all data collection and thus must be obtained before nay participants are involved into
the research. It gives people the right to choose and thus the data that are gathered are more
reliable. Informed consent also provide people involving themselves into medical research
the right to refuse treatment. It is one of the pillars of ethical research conduct and making
exceptions too often will lead to complete disregard of the practice.

3HEALTH SCIENCES RESEARCH
References
Dal-Ré, R., Avendaño-Solà, C., Bloechl-Daum, B., De Boer, A., Eriksson, S., Fuhr, U., ... &
Rosendaal, F. R. (2019). Low risk pragmatic trials do not always require participants’
informed consent. Bmj, 364, l1092.
Dranseika, V., Piasecki, J., & Waligora, M. (2017). Relevant information and informed
consent in research: in defense of the subjective standard of disclosure. Science and
engineering ethics, 23(1), 215-225.
Heinrichs, B. (2019). Myth or magic? Towards a revised theory of informed consent in
medical research. In The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy: A Forum for Bioethics
and Philosophy of Medicine (Vol. 44, No. 1, pp. 33-49). US: Oxford University Press.
Koyfman, S. A., Reddy, C. A., Hizlan, S., Leek, A. C., Kodish, A. E. D., & Phase I Informed
Consent (POIC) Research Team. (2016). Informed consent conversations and
documents: a quantitative comparison. Cancer, 122(3), 464-469.
Miller, T., & Boulton, M. (2007). Changing constructions of informed consent: Qualitative
research and complex social worlds. Social science & medicine, 65(11), 2199-2211.
Nusbaum, L., Douglas, B., Damus, K., Paasche-Orlow, M., & Estrella-Luna, N. (2017).
Communicating risks and benefits in informed consent for research: a qualitative
study. Global qualitative nursing research, 4, 2333393617732017.