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To the Editor: In their Commentary, Mr Shalowitz and Dr Miller¹ discuss implications of respect for participants on disclosing individual results of clinical research. We agree that "respect for participants underlies the responsibilities of investigators to communicate the aggregate conclusions of clinical research to participants." However, to extrapolate and require the communication of individual results is based on the therapeutic (or, in this case, diagnostic) misconception.

The therapeutic misconception is the mistaken belief that therapy and research are governed by the same primary goal: to advance the individual patient's best interests.² The purpose of research is not to advance the patient's best interests but, rather, to create generalizable knowledge. Preliminary research results are often not replicated, making early findings ambiguous at best. As such, promises to provide follow-up may lead to false reassurances or unnecessary scares. The authors' suggestion, if it were followed, would further conflate research and therapy, a . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Ellen Wright Clayton, MD, JD
ellen.w.clayton@vanderbilt.edu
Department of Pediatrics
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, Tenn

Lainie Friedman Ross, MD, PhD
Department of Pediatrics
University of Chicago
Chicago, Ill

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