Lyons Discusses Research, Prisoners In Washington, D.C.
 Phillip Lyons, associate professor of criminal justice,
recently appeared before a national committee in Washington,
D.C., to discuss whether the federal government should change
the nature and type of protections for prisoners who may
be involved in research experiments.
Lyons was invited by the Committee on Ethical Considerations
for Revisions to DHHS Regulations on Protection of Prisoners
Involved in Research to discuss the issues at its meeting
on May 4 at the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.
At the meeting, Lyons, who holds degrees in forensic psychology
and law, provided an overview, entitled “Legal and
Regulatory Frameworks for Research Involving Prisoners,” to
provide a background for the committee’s deliberations.
A longtime scholar on the subjects of ethical and legal issues
associated with research and mental health professional practice,
he has been contributing to and writing articles on the topic
for over a decade.
Experimentation involving humans has a long and checkered
history in the United States and has included such low points
as the Tuskegee syphilis experiment and a series of human
irradiation experiments, all on unwitting research subjects,
according to Lyons.
“
The ethical concerns are so pronounced that some have called
for an outright abolition of the practice of research involving
prisoners altogether.”
However, this view is far too restrictive, he said.
“
We are moving beyond paternalistic notions of whether prisoners
can consent to participation in studies and toward more nuanced
concerns about matters such as justice, for example, whether
people who benefit from the research are the same ones who
bear the burden of it,” Lyons said. “Moreover,
legitimate questions arise concerning the fairness of denying
prisoners access to clinical trials that may be their best,
or only, hope for effective treatment of disease.”
Despite the concerns, Lyons believes such research is likely
to continue, and that research at SHSU is no exception, estimating
that there is at least one study of prisoners underway here
at all times.
“
This is so, in part, because prisoners nationwide are a relatively
convenient sample: a—one knows where to find them;
b—they generally remain in the studies because they
are not going anywhere, and c—they are willing to participate
in studies cheaply, often free just to have something to
occupy their time,” he said.
—END—
SHSU Media Contact: Jennifer
Gauntt
May 26, 2005
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