Abstract
Sage and the Journal Editor hereby issue an expression of concern for the following article:
O’Brien, C., Rapp, J. T., & Kierce, E. D. (2020). Do prescribers deprescribe psychotropic medication for children in foster care? Developmental Child Welfare, 2(1), 3-20. https://doi.org/10.1177/2516103219899668
The second author contacted the editors to notify them, as required by their institutional review board, of concerns the review board found in the above article:
The database contained identifiable personal health information (PHI). The second author (Rapp) told the subcommittee that O’Brien did not have access to identifiable data; however, the publication describes that the first author (O’Brian) is stated to have de-identified data and put information into spreadsheet.
This describes exempt level research at minimum (with vulnerable population and data, which were identifiable at some point, would likely be expedited research level). No protocol reviewed by the ethical board covers this study.