Am J Pathol 2022 Jun 22. Epub 2022 Jun 22.
Office of Research and Development, Veterans Health Administration, Washington, District of Columbia; Department of Pathology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland. Electronic address:
Although issues associated with returning individual research results to study participants have been well explored, these issues have been less thoroughly investigated in vulnerable individuals and populations. Considerations regarding return of research results to these individuals and populations, including how best to ensure truly informed consent, how to minimize the risks and benefits of the return of research results, and how best to ensure justice, may differ from those of the population at large. In this article, we discuss the issues and challenges associated with the return of individual research results (such as genomic, proteomic, or other biomarker data) to potentially vulnerable individuals and populations, including those who may be vulnerable for cognitive, communicative, institutional, social, deferential, medical, economic, or social reasons. Read More