The Ethical Dilemma of Ethical Committees

The Nuremberg code, a response to the 1946 Nuremberg Medical Trials, was the first attempt to formally state ethical requirements for medical research. The Code was generally ignored as a response to the peculiarly barbaric Nazi atrocities and an unnecessary fetter on normal research. A series of research scandals, however, led to more successful attempts at regulating medical research and to the introduction of various ethical committees during the 1970s. Since then, ethical committees have expanded their remit to regulate social as well as medical research and operate according to precautionary standards that far exceed what is necessary to protect public safety. Ethical committees block investigations of medical practice even when the intent is to benefit patients directly and they prevent social research entailing even far‐fetched possibilities of ‘stress’. Although purportedly designed to protect patients and civil liberties, modern ethical regulation damages the doctor–patient relationship, undermines professional responsibility, and encourages negative scientific practice.