An ongoing study aims to measure the long-term effect of regular consumption of specially-formulated protein milkshakes on the match performance of adult football players at a local community club. One of the researchers, however, misunderstood the meaning of ‘adult’ and recruited several 18 year olds into the study. They have been consuming the shakes and had their performance monitored for several weeks. The PI discovers the error, and must decide what course of action to take.

Developed for use at the February 2016 CENTRES workshop on the Human Biomedical Research Act. © 2016 National University of Singapore.

Questions for Discussion

1. What should the researcher, her IRB and/or her research institution do?
2. Who has been or could be exposed to liability under the Act, and under what potential penalties?