Research Consent at the Age of Majority: Preferable but not Obligatory

In this issue of Pediatrics, Berkman et al argue that parental permission to obtain samples is sufficient to continue storing them and using them for research after the pediatric participant reaches the age of majority. In this Ethics Rounds, we argue that there are important ethical reasons for obtaining consent from participants when they reach majority. However, these reasons must be balanced with the aim of efficiently and economically conducting research that benefits children. Given current guidance from the relevant regulatory bodies, it remains necessary to obtain consent for the continued use of identified pediatric samples when participants reach the age of majority unless the institutional review board grants a waiver of consent. However, we argue that waivers of consent should more frequently be granted by institutional review boards and used for this purpose.