NIH Ethics Principles Paper

Key Ideas The first key idea of the NIH Ethics course was the first principle of the Belmont Report, which is the principle of respect of persons. According to the NIH module, there are two parts to the principle respect of persons. The first part is that “individuals of research should be treated as autonomous agents”. The second part is that “persons with diminished autonomy are entitled to additional protections”. The main application of this principle to research is the requirement that all participants of human subject research sign informed consent forms and are made fully aware of the research they are volunteering for. It is imperative that research subjects understand all the risks and benefits of the study they will be participating in and that they are able to withdraw from the study at any time if they are concerned for they health or safety. All persons are entitled to autonomy and levels of protection. However, there are certain groups of people, such as pregnant women and children, who have more protections to ensure

This principle is all about conducting research with beneficent intentions and actions. According to the NIH module, there are two general rules that are associated with beneficent actions, “do no harm” and “maximize possible benefits and minimize possible harms”. The module on beneficence discussed what are known as Institutional Review Boards, or IRBs, and their role in research studies. IRBs are in charge of reviewing every research study, ensuring that the research follows all regulations set forth by the Department of Human Health Services (HHS) and all human subjects will be informed of the research enough to provide informed consent. IRBs are composed of a group of 5 or more professionals with a variety of backgrounds in order to ensure that a thorough and complete review of all research