Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32728835›Full record

ArticleIrish journal of medical science2021

What GDPR and the Health Research Regulations (HRRs) mean for Ireland: "explicit consent"-a legal analysis.

Mary Kirwan, Blanaid Mee, Niamh Clarke, Aoife Tanaka, Lino Manaloto, Emma Halpin, Una Gibbons, Ann Cullen, Sarah McGarrigle, Elisabeth M Connolly and 6 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Irish journal of medical science, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Mary KirwanDepartment of General Practice, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland. maryetkirwan@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2665-8516
Blanaid MeeDepartment of Histopathology, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Niamh ClarkeDepartment of Surgery, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Aoife TanakaDepartment of Histopathology, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Lino ManalotoSchool of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Health, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland.
Emma HalpinSchool of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Health, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland.
Una GibbonsDepartment of Histopathology, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Ann CullenConway Institute of Biomolecular & Biomedical Research, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Sarah McGarrigleDepartment of Surgery, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Elisabeth M ConnollyDepartment of Surgery, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Kathleen BennettDepartment of Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.
Eoin GaffneyBiobank Ireland Trust, Dublin, Ireland.
Ciaran FlanaganBiobank Ireland Trust, Dublin, Ireland.
Laura TierDepartment of Histopathology, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Richard FlavinDepartment of Histopathology, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Noel G McElvaneyDepartment of Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIrish Health Research Regulations (HRRs) were introduced following the commencement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018. The HRRs set out supplementary regulatory requirements for research. A legal analysis presented under the auspices of the Irish Academy of Medical Sciences (IAMS) on April 8 and November 25, 2019 at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland welcomed the introduction of GDPR and the HRRs. The analysis found the GDPR "explicit consent" introduced by the HRRs is problematic. A call was made to regulate informed consent in line with the common law as an achievable alternative safeguard, bringing Ireland in line with other EU Member States.

aimsThis article aims to review academic papers, legal opinion, EU opinion and advice and data protection law in relation to research and explicit consent, in order to examine the legal burden of GDPR and the HRRs on health research in Ireland and to determine whether the analysis presented at the IAMS meetings is reflected more widely in legal text.

methodsLegal literature review of academic papers, legal opinion, EU opinion and advice and data protection legislation.

resultsThe legal literature review overwhelmingly supports the concerns raised.

conclusionsOur results confirm the GDPR explicit consent requirement of the HRRs is having had a significantly negative and far-reaching impact on the conduct of health research in Ireland. Urgent review of the HRRs and meaningful engagement between the health research community and legislators in healthcare is required.

Indexed as

Government RegulationBiomedical ResearchComputer SecurityFemaleHumansInformed ConsentIrelandMaleResearch DesignCommon lawConsent declarationExplicit consentGDPRHealth researchInformed consentIrelandIrish health regulationsResearch

Identifiers

PMID32728835
PMCPMC7391042

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.