Northumbria University fined £400,000 after researchers gave students 100 times intended amount of caffeine
This horrifying (and almost tragic) case highlights why research ethics reviewers ask who will conduct various components of a project and their expertise to do so or the supervision/training they will receive. The importance of this is not limited to biomedical research but is more acute when their is significant potential for serious harm.
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Northumbria University told Newcastle crown court it was “deeply, genuinely sorry” after sports science students Alex Rossetto and Luke Parkin were each given the massive dose of caffeine. They were admitted to intensive care for dialysis after the calculation error led to violent side-effects.
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Prosecutor Adam Farrer told the court the overdose “could easily have been fatal”. Peter Smith, defending, said the university wished to “emphasise that they take the welfare of their students and staff seriously”.
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The students had volunteered to take part in a test in March 2015 aimed at measuring the effect of caffeine on exercise. They were given 30g of caffeine instead of 0.3g, Farrer said.
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