New medical treatments can be lifesaving-if they work. But for a volunteer in the experiments necessary to evaluate those hoped-for cures, the new treatments can be risky, even deadly. In the last few years, in fact, a number of research institutions have come under fire for not adequately protecting the health and rights of volunteers. Part of the problem, critics say, is that the federally mandated review boards whose responsibility it is to oversee human research at their respective institutions are often overburdened and lacking in the necessary expertise.

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