On research on HIV infection and AIDS in correctional institutions.

AIDS presents unique problems and opportunities in jails and prisons for epidemiological research on HIV infection and its sequelae. If correctional institutions constrain inmates' access to social benefits, means exist to protect incarcerated people's rights in health studies. A reading of federal regulations indicates that research involving prisoners should be subject to scrutiny by an institutional review board (IRB); inmates participating in IRB-approved clinical trials on AIDS-related drugs should not receive placebos alone, moreover, given that some medications are partially effective against the syndrome. As in other domains of public health and public policy, HIV infection and AIDS in prisons compel new perspectives on justice and equity.