IRBs are being pushed by the national group, OPRR, to get so strict with researchers that they see no problem with shutting down an entire study and getting rid of years of valuable data, just because the investigator may have submitted a form incorrectly or belatedly. The pendulum has certainly swung way too far, in my opinion, because good research is being trashed, all in the name of protecting human subjects. I served on our IRB for three years and felt that we did a good job of protecting human subjects, especially children and other vulnerable groups. But I left that role about 2 years ago and since then have noticed that certain schools around the country have been especially hard hit by this overzealous efforts at protection. We must weigh the pros and the cons, using our best professional judgment, rather than following strictly a rule that might not be applicable in all cases.
Oversimplification is the root of the problem here, as it is with the use of technology.
Technology has seduced us into thinking that facts are easy to know and that things either work or they don t work. But the Internet is no more accurate in its information than the tabloids at the grocery store nor any less accurate than Harrison s Principles of Internal Medicine. But now that so much information is available online, we might easily think that becoming educated and gaining wisdom is now within everyone s reach. I believe this is a mirage. Although I have no data to back it up yet, I would propose that neither common sense nor wisdom come from working on a computer or surfing the Net.