Highlights From The Comments On My IRB Nightmare

A Highlights-From-The-Comments companion to 'My IRB Nightmare.' Curates reader IRB horror stories (a COPD observational study buried in 300 pages, the 'Don't Be a Nazi' training, lasers-on-infants, a communion-wine science fair) alongside genuinely balancing pushback: much of the pain is institutional not regulatory; private IRBs turn things around in days; and the Tuskegee/American-misconduct reminder that IRBs exist for real reasons. Scott concedes some snark was unfair but sharpens the core claim — IRBs have crept into low-risk studies to everyone's detriment (the 'police state vs anarchy' false dichotomy), and new NIH rules reclassifying basic science as 'clinical trials' are making it worse.

Quality 67 · Strong. Strong, low (companion). A rich, entertaining highlights post lifted by Scott's clarifying response and the substantive institutional-vs-regulatory and Tuskegee counterpoints; upper companion-cohort, level with the other strong Highlights (Cultural-Evolution 68 / Scott-Adams 68), held just below as secondary curation.

Claude’s paradigm shift 35 · Slight. Slight–Moderate (35). Curation of reader stories plus Scott's reply; surfaces good points (institutional≠regulatory) but derivative by format.

Real-world impact 2 · Minor. Minor (2). Extends the (real-world-relevant) IRB-reform discussion; within-blog companion reach.