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Ethics on Trial: Protecting Humans in Canada's Broken Research System
Exposing the devastating human consequences of Canada’s broken governance system for human medical research.
The governance framework for human research in Canada is dangerously flawed and has the potential to lead to harm and suffering.
Canadian researchers and research companies have been allowed to flirt with informed consent, “forum shop” for less restrictive oversight, and violate the rights, safety, and welfare of fellow Canadians — including those in situations of vulnerability — under the watchful eye of a federal government unwilling to fix the system.
In Ethics on Trial, Janice E. Parente — who has led the fight for oversight and accountability of human research in Canada for three decades — shows readers the devastating human consequences of the current flawed approach. She proposes a simple solution that embraces a good and ethical system of governance — a system that Canadians should insist on and Canada’s lawmakers and research funders should adopt.
The governance framework for human research in Canada is dangerously flawed and has the potential to lead to harm and suffering.
Canadian researchers and research companies have been allowed to flirt with informed consent, “forum shop” for less restrictive oversight, and violate the rights, safety, and welfare of fellow Canadians — including those in situations of vulnerability — under the watchful eye of a federal government unwilling to fix the system.
In Ethics on Trial, Janice E. Parente — who has led the fight for oversight and accountability of human research in Canada for three decades — shows readers the devastating human consequences of the current flawed approach. She proposes a simple solution that embraces a good and ethical system of governance — a system that Canadians should insist on and Canada’s lawmakers and research funders should adopt.
240 pages, Paperback
Published September 30, 2025
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December 19, 2025
To provide context, the author starts by chronicling true-life stories that reveal shocking examples of human research participant abuse and subsequent coverups of the stakeholders to protect their reputations. You then sense Parente’s frustration and share her pain when she encounters countless roadblocks in her attempts to develop ethical Canadian human research guidelines that enforce regulation accountability.
Readers will also realize how much courage it must have taken the author to ruffle the feathers of those currently in charge when they learn about the nasty backlash. A well invested read and a wakeup call, particularly for those considering participating in a Canadian human healthcare research study.
Readers will also realize how much courage it must have taken the author to ruffle the feathers of those currently in charge when they learn about the nasty backlash. A well invested read and a wakeup call, particularly for those considering participating in a Canadian human healthcare research study.
Displaying 1 of 1 review