Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
Exposing the human consequences of Canada’s broken research system.
The governance framework for human research in Canada is dangerously flawed and has the potential to lead to harm and suffering.
Canadian researchers and research companies have been allowed to flirt with informed consent; choose research ethics boards with less restrictive oversight; and violate the rights, safety, and welfare of Canadians — including those in situations of vulnerability — under the indifferent eye of a federal government unwilling to fix the system.
In Ethics on Trial, Janice E. Parente — who has led the fight for oversight and accountability of human research in Canada for three decades — shows readers the devastating consequences of the current flawed approach. She proposes a simple solution that embraces a good and ethical system of governance — a system that Canadians should insist on and Canada’s lawmakers and research funders should wholeheartedly adopt.
The governance framework for human research in Canada is dangerously flawed and has the potential to lead to harm and suffering.
Canadian researchers and research companies have been allowed to flirt with informed consent; choose research ethics boards with less restrictive oversight; and violate the rights, safety, and welfare of Canadians — including those in situations of vulnerability — under the indifferent eye of a federal government unwilling to fix the system.
In Ethics on Trial, Janice E. Parente — who has led the fight for oversight and accountability of human research in Canada for three decades — shows readers the devastating consequences of the current flawed approach. She proposes a simple solution that embraces a good and ethical system of governance — a system that Canadians should insist on and Canada’s lawmakers and research funders should wholeheartedly adopt.
Price: $19.99
Pages: 240
Publisher: Dundurn Press
Imprint: Dundurn Press
Publication Date:
30 September 2025
Trim Size: 8.50 X 5.50 in
ISBN: 9781459755970
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
LAW / Medical Law & Legislation, Medical ethics and professional conduct, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Research, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Discrimination, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Disease & Health Issues, MEDICAL / Research, HEALTH & FITNESS / Health Care Issues
Drawing on her own records and those of federal agencies, Parente reveals how Canada’s human research protection regime remains disjointed, fractious, and prone to territorialism—often at the expense of those who offer their time and bodies to research intended to benefit us all. In a time of growing public distrust in science, the need for a rigorous and robust accreditation system is critical. Ethics on Trial is just such a plea.
Ethics on Trial is a story that needed to be told. For more than a quarter-century, efforts to strengthen the protection of human research participants in Canada have been repeatedly stymied — leaving a flawed system in place. It’s a regretful and shameful reality.
Ethics on Trial is a story that needed to be told. For more than a quarter-century, efforts to strengthen the protection of human research participants in Canada have been repeatedly stymied — leaving a flawed system in place. It’s a regretful and shameful reality.
Janice E. Parente has, for over thirty years, been one of Canada’s leading advocates for the rights, safety, and welfare of human research participants. Janice holds a degree in biochemistry from McMaster University and a PhD in medicine from the University of Alberta. Janice lives in the Laurentian region of Quebec.
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: A Suspicious Death
- Chapter 2: “Where Did You Get That Canoe?”
- Chapter 3: Ethics for Sale
- Chapter 4: “What’s a Few Grand to Protect Your Reputation?”
- Chapter 5: The Consequences of No Consequences
- Chapter 6: Gaps in Oversight
- Chapter 7: The Origins of Research Participant Protection
- Chapter 8: “Change Your Brain Waves; Change Your Life!”
- Chapter 9: Good and Ethical Governance, Part I
- Chapter 10: Good and Ethical Governance, Part II
- Chapter 11: Unsavoury Headwinds
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
- Index