University of California, Hastings College of the Law UC Hastings Scholarship Repository Faculty Scholarship 2010 Prisoners as Human Subjects: A Closer Look at the Institute of Medicine's Recommendations to Loosen Current Restrictions on Using Prisoners in Scientific Research Osagie K. Obasogie UC Hastings College of the Law,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://repository.uchastings.edu/faculty_scholarship Recommended Citation Osagie K. Obasogie, Prisoners as Human Subjects: A Closer Look at the Institute of Medicine's Recommendations to Loosen Current Restrictions on Using Prisoners in Scientific Research, 6 Stan. J. C.R. & C.L. 41 (2010). Available at: http://repository.uchastings.edu/faculty_scholarship/1359 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. 41_82_OBASOGIE-PRINTER PROOF.DOC 11/9/10 4:30 PM ARTICLE PRISONERS AS HUMAN SUBJECTS: A CLOSER LOOK AT THE INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE’S RECOMMENDATIONS TO LOOSEN CURRENT RESTRICTIONS ON USING PRISONERS IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH Osagie K. Obasogie† There have been notable discussions within scientific literature, bioethics scholarship, and the popular press regarding the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) 2006 recommendations to the Department of Health and Human Services to loosen federal restrictions on using prisoners in biomedical and behavioral research. Yet there has been little dialogue among legal scholars about the recommendations’ potential impact on administrative policy. Supporters point to the growing need for clinical trial participants, ethicists’ changing perspectives, and greater institutional protections, while opponents point to past abuses and their likelihood to reoccur.