The American Medical Students Association and Public Citizen, a watchdog group, are calling for an investigation into "unethical" clinical trials, which require first-year medical residents to work up to 28 hours or more at a time, according to MedPage Today.
Here are seven things to know:
1. The groups sent a letter to the Office for Human Research Protections at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
2. In the letter, the groups claim the medical trainees and patients are exposed to a variety of risks, including exposure to blood-borne pathogens.
3. AMSA and Public Citizen seek an immediate halt to iCOMPARE, an ongoing study, as well as the FIRST study, which was completed in June 2015.
4. The groups demand sanctions for those institutions that participated in those trials.
5. The letter referenced a survey of the general public, which found 81 percent of patients wanted to be informed if a resident was working more than 24 hours. Eighty percent of respondents said if so, they wanted a different physician.
6. Michael Frank, MD, director of the internal medicine residency program at Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, said there is not sufficient data concerning which risk is greater — longer working shifts or giving patients' cases to new physicians who are not familiar with their cases.
7. The University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison took part in "a limited way" in the FIRST study. A UW spokesperson said first-year residents were only allowed to work up to 18 hours, not 28 hours cited by the AMSA and Public Citizen.
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