Author: Joel Lexchin | Associate professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto; York University, Canada; University of Sydney

New drug approvals by Health Canada are based on the results of clinical trials. But before clinical trials can go ahead, they need to be approved by ethics committees known as Research Ethics Boards (REBs).

Virtually all hospitals where research is conducted have REBs, as do universities and other institutions. The REBs are supposed to ensure that patients understand the nature of the research and have given informed consent, that the trials are conducted in an ethical way that minimizes any harm to them and that the investigators are competent to do the research.

Given the crucial role they play, it’s important that REBs are not influenced by factors like financial motives, conflicts of interest or the goals of drug companies. Without oversight, these factors may encroach on the decisions made by REBs in Canada.