© 2004 Archives of Disease in Childhood Fetal and Neonatal Edition
LETTER
US bioethics fall short of world standards
Doctors Opposing Circumcision, Suite 42, 2442 NW Market Street, Seattle Washington 98107, USA; iconbuster@earhlink.net
Keywords: bioethics; circumcision; pain
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
In their study of motion resistant pulse oximetry in neonates, Sahni et al1 obtained approval from their institutional review board and consent from the parents of the infants involved. Nevertheless, the study fails the most basic principles of bioethics, and this calls into question the value of institutional review boards and points to a yawning chasm between American ethical practices and world ethical standards.
The recognised criteria for ethical experimentation are the Nuremberg Code (1947)2 and the Declaration of Helsinki (1964) as amended.3 The Nuremberg Code requires the consent of the subject, which obviously could not be obtained in this case. The Declaration of Helsinki provides for the consent of the legal representatives of minor children in certain limited instances:
"For a research subject who is legally incompetent, physically or mentally incapable of giving consent or is a legally incompetent minor, the investigator must obtain informed consent from the legally. . . [Full text of this article]
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati What's this?
- Full Text
- Full Text (PDF)
- Submit a response
- Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me when eLetters are posted
- Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
- Email this link to a friend
- Similar articles in ADC Online
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Add article to my folders
- Download to citation manager
- Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Google Scholar
PubMed
Bookmark with
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.
