From 1990, the Havasupai gave DNA samples to a geneticist in the hopes that research could inform them about their risk factors or provide treatment options for Type 2 diabetes. Unbeknownst to participants, researchers later used these DNA samples to study diseases such as alcoholism and schizophrenia. What are the ethical implications of the researchers' actions?
A) Informed consent from participants was violated.
B) There were no ethical mistakes because participants were not additionally harmed.
C) Confidentiality of participants was violated.
D) With the additional analyses, there was no longer minimal risk to participants and exposing participants to more than minimal risk was unethical on the part of the researchers.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The ethical implication is that informed consent was violated. Participants agreed to provide DNA samples for research on Type 2 diabetes, but the samples were used for other studies without their knowledge or consent.

From 1990, the Havasupai Gave DNA Samples to a Geneticist