L'utilisation des loteries comme forme d'indemnité compensatoire dans les recherches en santé : une analyse philosophique

The use of lotteries as a form of compensation has become more and more common in health research in the province of Quebec. In certain cases, lotteries are used to encourage the participation in projects for which the recruitment is difficult. In others, lotteries become a compensation for subjects when the research funds do not allow to do so as generously. However, ethical limits must be defined in relation to this practice. By using a case study, two perspectives will be summoned: the utilitarian perspective, which focuses mainly on the cost-benefits analysis; and the Kantian approach, which rather promotes a strict protection of autonomy. The article will then attempt to demonstrate that the REBs should favour the Kantian approach even if it can seem rigid. The arguments used to support this position gravitate around four factors essential to the elaboration of valid norms in research ethics: coherence, universality, equality, and justice.