Drug-Free Research in Schizophrenia: An Overview of the Controversy

of persons with psychiatric disorders. Why this sudden interest in the ethics of psychiatric research, an area that has been quiescent for nearly a decade and a half? This paper explores the context from which much of this interest has grown: drug-free research on schizophrenia. I consider the roots of the controversy, the nature both of the disorder and of the research that lies at the core of the debate, and the ethical issues that have been raised.