"Even raw data became subject to subpoena by courts, including names and addresses of research participants," says Patrinkas, a social anthropologist at the University of Southern California. "Researchers cannot guarantee the confidentiality of the individual providing that data."
It's already beginning in the Gulf. Lawyers are all over the airwaves, soliciting clients who think they deserve compensation from the oil spill damage to their lives and livelihoods.
The issue has big implications - for scientists, for the people affected by the spill and for a society that needs solid research on the health and social impact of these man-made disasters.
Palinkas wonders if the same protections given to drug abusers in research situations might be applied to victims of manmade disasters.
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