| Title: Data Archiving Scenario
Characters: Jesse, Graduate Assistant Rachid, System Administrator Iris, a Researcher INTERIOR, COMPUTER WORKSTATION, IMMUNOLOGY LAB Jesse is deleting files. Rachid is installing a zip drive on another computer. Iris is primping a monkey plant . JESSE Every time I push the ‘delete' key I feel like I'm wiping out whole populations! RACHID So don't push it. JESSE I got to. It's all about sick children. Confidential RACHID Don't you guys have to keep the data in case someone asks you to repeat the experiment? JESSE ”Study.” They're called “studies,” Rachid. Yeah, some of the data is archived, but the stuff I'm deleting now, the names and social security numbers, get destroyed. RACHID This was a bout Givling-Taylor Syndrome, right. JESSE That's right. Little kids with the sheathing around their nerves all degenerated. RACHID Any hope of a cure? JESSE They're working on something. Floro-immuno flossing. IRIS Fluoro scopy . JESSE … fluoro scopy. Anyway, it looks kinda promising. IRIS Very promising in some cases. It will probably only work on certain types of sheathing. They found that out from the study, actually. RACHID So won't that information be valuable if ever a cure is discovered? You'd already know in advance which kids it would work on. JESSE Yeah, but if we archive the personal information with the data, then all kinds of other researchers will have access to it down the line--and they're not bound by the confidentiality agreement. RACHID So if a cure is ever found, all the kids would have to be tested again? JESSE I guess so – unless we tell the parents what group their children belong to so they can monitor developments in fluoroscopy treatment. RACHID And what would they do? Subscribe to the New England Journal of Medicine ? JESSE That's not very realistic. The kids would have to be re-tested – which is a nuisance, because the test is kinda invasive.. RACHID And the parents aren't gonna want to do it, too, because it's been done once by you guys and no treatment was available. JESSE Yeah but… RACHID So if a cure is ever found, the kids would have been better off not being part of the original “study” that helped find the cure? JESSE Iris, should we be deleting this stuff? IRIS You signed the confidentiality agreement. You know what it says. JESSE Yeah, but. RACHID I'm glad I just work on machines.