Pubdate: Thu, 11 Jul 2002
Source: Register-Guard, The (OR)
Copyright: 2002 The Register-Guard
Contact:  http://www.registerguard.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/362
Author: William McCall, The Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

FEDERAL AGENCY INVESTIGATING OHSU STUDY OF DRUGS, ATHLETES

PORTLAND - A study aimed at determining whether random drug tests 
discourage drug use among high school athletes is under investigation by a 
federal agency that regulates research, officials said Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the Office for Human Research Protections confirmed that 
the agency began its investigation of the Oregon Health & Science 
University study in May, several weeks before a class-action lawsuit was 
filed against OHSU and 14 Oregon school districts. The lawsuit claims 
students have been harassed or coerced into taking part in the study.

But the Office for Human Research Protections, a division of the U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services, cannot release details until the 
investigation is complete, said spokeswoman Pat El-Hinnawy in Rockville, Md.

"I can tell you, in general terms, that we investigate on the basis of 
whether institutions are in compliance with regulations," El-Hinnawy said.

The three-year, $3.6 million study funded by the National Institutes of 
Health is entering its third year.

OHSU researchers, led by Dr. Linn Goldberg, designed the study to determine 
how widespread drug and alcohol use is among high school athletes, and 
whether random testing reduces it.

Athletes at seven participating high schools face random urine tests for 
drugs and breath tests for alcohol. Students at six other schools serve as 
a control group with no drug testing. Another school dropped out of the study.

OHSU officials said they received a routine questionnaire on the study from 
the Office for Human Research Protections, and after replying, the 
institution received a follow-up questionnaire.

"When I looked over the list of questions, they were primarily things that 
appeared in the media last year," said OHSU spokesman Martin Munguia.

"They wanted to know what's really behind these allegations, so we're in 
process of responding to that latest set of questions," Munguia said.

Controversy over drug testing has generated media attention since the study 
began, Munguia said, but researchers have made every effort to protect 
privacy and make sure all participants understand and accept the terms of 
the study.

But a lawsuit filed June 28 in U.S. District Court in Oregon alleges that 
thousands of high school students were forced to take part in the study and 
suffered "psychological, social and economic harm."

The lawsuit also seeks an injunction to halt the study, called Saturn - 
short for Student Athletic Testing Using Random Notification.

"Once they look at this study, they'll conclude there were ethical lapses 
and the study should not have proceeded the way it did," said Alan 
Milstein, an attorney in Pennsauken, N.J., who is leading the lawsuit.

He said there was no evidence of a serious drug problem in Oregon schools 
before the study, so "it's ludicrous" to spend $3.6 million to find out 
what educators already know, or already prevent.

"We have to limit trivial research that is not done to improve science or 
medicine but just to do research," Milstein said. The U.S. Supreme Court 
recently upheld random drug tests for high school students.

Drug tests in Oregon are up to individual school districts because there is 
no statewide policy on testing, said Barb Wolfe, spokeswoman for the Oregon 
Department of Education.
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MAP posted-by: Ariel