Ethical and Human-Rights Issues in Research on Mental Disorders That May Affect Decision-Making Capacity

For research with human subjects, the more things change, the more they remain the same. In the 50-odd years since the 10 principles of the Nuremberg Code were set forth by the U.S. judges who convicted the Nazi concentration-camp physicians of crimes against humanity, the tensions inherent in using human beings as a means to advance biomedical knowledge have surfaced repeatedly. Ever more detailed codes and regulations from governments as well as professional bodies, such as the World Medical Association in its oft-revised Declaration of Helsinki,1 have not put the subject to rest. Indeed, the lesson of the past half-century . . .