WHEN IS ETHICAL REVIEW OF RESEARCH PROTOCOLS NECESSARY - A PROPOSED CLASSIFICATION-SYSTEM FOR EVALUATING CANADIAN HOSPITAL-BASED RESEARCH

Although research is an activity commonly undertaken in Canadian hospi tals, no mandatory or even standardized mechanism exists for the ethic al clearance of hospital-based research in Canada. This paper describe s the current procedures used by Canadian hospitals to evaluate resear ch protocols. A research classification system is proposed by SCO Hosp ital, Saint-Vincent Pavilion. The proposed classification system offer s criteria for screening hospital-based research for risk to human sub jects and detecting potential ethical problems in a proposed research study. SCO Hospital, Saint-Vincent Pavilion, has also found the propos ed research classification system helpful in identifying research acti vities that have an impact on hospital resources.