Talk:Database Protection and Accessibility of Scientific Data

I think it would be interesting to look at how public policy has effected medical research. Have regulations like HIPAA, which restrict access to patient information, adversly affected our ability to conduct research using retrospective and prospective patient data. I know that in many European countries restrictions to patient data are much less rigorous. I would theorize that in these European countries there exists in an increase in the amount of research conducted, and decrease in typical time period associated with such research. There might be other interesting differences that are less obvious.