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Article
Bad News about Bad News: The Disclosure of Risks to Insurability in Research Consent Processes
Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press
  • Victoria Smith Apold
  • Jocelyn Downie, Dalhousie University - Schulich School of Law
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-31-2011
Keywords
  • consent,
  • incidental findings,
  • insurability risks,
  • neuroethics,
  • research ethics
Abstract

One of the phenomena associated with research is “incidental findings,” that is, unexpected findings made during the research, and outside the scope of the research, which have potential health importance. One underappreciated risk of incidental findings is the potential loss of the research subject's insurability; or if a research subject fails to disclose incidental findings when applying for insurance, the insurance contract may be voidable by the insurer. In this article, we seek to explain the insurability risks associated with incidental findings and to make recommendations for how researchers and research ethics committees should address the issue of disclosure of these risks.

Citation Information
Victoria Smith Apold & Jocelyn Downie, "Bad News about Bad News: The Disclosure of Risks to Insurability in Research Consent Processes" (2011) 18:1 Accountability in Research 31.