A difficult ethics issue/Author's reply

Fourth, in her final paragraph, Cuttini notes that "waiver of informed consent in selected circumstances is aimed at allowing research to proceed for the benefit of the patients, not at making research easier for the investigator". The view of our consultants was that "informed consen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Lancet (British edition) 2004-11, Vol.364 (9447), p.1751
Main Authors: Vain, Néstor, Prudent, Luis, Szyld, Edgardo, Wiswell, Thomas
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Fourth, in her final paragraph, Cuttini notes that "waiver of informed consent in selected circumstances is aimed at allowing research to proceed for the benefit of the patients, not at making research easier for the investigator". The view of our consultants was that "informed consent policies and practices should be used to protect patient welfare and autonomy. Policies and practices that encourage routine clinical use and discourage proper testing of unproven therapies undermine rather than promote patient welfare and autonomy" (Tyson JE, Center for Clinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine, Houston, TX, USA, personal communication). All authors acknowledge, however, that consideration of the use of an informed consent waiver is only justified in exceptional situations.
ISSN:0140-6736
1474-547X