Recent scholars have proposed that prisoners be used as research subjects in clinical trials requiring human subjects. Scholars suggest this in order to address the problem of using non-ideal research participants and not having enough research participants to satisfy a study. Finding research participants is a lengthy process, including sufficiently explaining the potential risks and benefits of a study, getting informed consent, and maintaining the participants for the entire duration of the study. Recruitment of human research subjects can sometimes take longer than a researcher would like, which in turn makes the process more costly. Additionally, researchers may recruit more subjects than necessary, also contributing to superfluous expenses.
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In many studies, it is required to know the medical history of the participant as to see how the particular research has affected a person based on their past, thus being able to draw conclusions from the research. But with prisoners, researchers will have inadequate or no access to medical histories. This could lead to outcomes of the research that are indescribable. Additionally, prisoners could have unforeseen medical problems that could hinder with the outcome of the research. Furthermore, while there may be a large amount of individuals in prison across the country and the world, not all of the prisoners would meet the requirements to be a subject in certain studies. Prisoners are also in prison for various amounts of time, thus making it difficult to run a long term study with specific participant requirements. In addition, informed consent would still be a requirement of prisoners since they still are human research subjects. However, attaining informed consent from a prisoner could prove to be more difficult than obtaining it from an average human because prisoners often have less education than the average person. This would may it more difficult to make clear the risks and process behind the
In many studies, it is required to know the medical history of the participant as to see how the particular research has affected a person based on their past, thus being able to draw conclusions from the research. But with prisoners, researchers will have inadequate or no access to medical histories. This could lead to outcomes of the research that are indescribable. Additionally, prisoners could have unforeseen medical problems that could hinder with the outcome of the research. Furthermore, while there may be a large amount of individuals in prison across the country and the world, not all of the prisoners would meet the requirements to be a subject in certain studies. Prisoners are also in prison for various amounts of time, thus making it difficult to run a long term study with specific participant requirements. In addition, informed consent would still be a requirement of prisoners since they still are human research subjects. However, attaining informed consent from a prisoner could prove to be more difficult than obtaining it from an average human because prisoners often have less education than the average person. This would may it more difficult to make clear the risks and process behind the