Final answer:
Compliance with a consent decree may involve revising procedures for obtaining informed consent to ensure that participants are aware of research details, risks, and their specific involvement, including the possibility of receiving a placebo.
Step-by-step explanation:
One action that a department might take as part of compliance with a consent decree is revising their procedures for obtaining informed consent. For example, in the context of higher education and research, complying with the Clery Act requires institutions to ensure that participants in research studies are fully informed about the nature of the research and what their participation involves. This means participants must be made aware of any risks, the purpose of the research, and what treatments they might receive, including the possibility of receiving a placebo.
Potential Violations of Informed Consent:
- Inmates in a correctional facility are offered good behavior credit in return for participation in a study: This could be seen as coercive and may undermine true informed consent.
- A research study is designed to investigate a new children's allergy medication: Here, informed consent would require explaining to a parent or legal guardian the details of the study and any potential risks to child participants.
- Participants in a study are told that the new medication being tested is highly promising, but they are not told that only a small portion of participants will receive the new medication: This is misleading, as it omits information about the randomized nature of clinical trials and could violate informed consent norms.