What Nuremberg Code?
At the end of World War II, American judges heard testimony about Nazi doctors performing horrendous medical experiments on whomever they pleased. To insure this would never happen again, the Nuremberg code was written. The first principle of this international code was that no one could be subject to a medical experiment without giving consent. Now, for the first time in the United States, there is an exception to that code. The Food and Drug Administration has decided that it is permissible, and entirely ethical, to enroll patients in medical studies without their consent if it is an emergency, if the patients are unconscious or cannot speak for themselves and if no relative can be reached to give consent for the patient. The new Federal regulations go into effect this month.
