Payment for research participation: a coercive offer?
- Franklin G Miller, Department of Bioethics, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Building 10, Room 1C118, Bethesda, Maryland 20892–1156, USA; fmiller{at}nih.gov
- Received 12 June 2007
- Accepted 2 August 2007
Abstract
Payment for research participation has raised ethical concerns, especially with respect to its potential for coercion. We argue that characterising payment for research participation as coercive is misguided, because offers of benefit cannot constitute coercion. In this article we analyse the concept of coercion, refute mistaken conceptions of coercion and explain why the offer of payment for research participation is never coercive but in some cases may produce undue inducement.
Footnotes
-
Competing interests: The authors have no competing interests to declare.
-
The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the National Institutes of Health, the Public Health Service or the Department of Health and Human Services.
