Responsibility of the Institutional Clinical Research Review Board and the Ethics Committee：View Point of the Chairperson

Abstract

Understanding the rights of patients is fundamental in modern medicine. Patients and their family members should be asked to participate in making decisions on medical procedures with the assistance of physicians and medical staff. In clinical studies, where drugs, medical devices and interventional techniques are tested prior to solid evidence and risk evaluation, accurate and carefully obtained informed consent is indispensable. Members of institutional clinical research review boards and ethics committees bear great responsibility when they evaluate clinical research protocols. In particular, the chairs of such committees should have ample knowledge regarding legal issues, economical support systems, social insurance refunding, etc, in addition to medical knowledge itself.