Do family doctors have an obligation to facilitate research?

In the third of a series of articles examining ethical issues in primary care research, we argue that family doctors, when considering what they ought to do in relation to research, have a positive obligation to participate in research and that one means of discharging this obligation is to collaborate in research studies by aiding recruitment. We offer three arguments in support of this obligation–arguments from fairness, reason and utility. We then go on to specify a series of conditions on this obligation which take into account that doctors have many other obligations. These are the conditions of financial remuneration, reciprocity and ability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]