Consent in clinical experimentation: myth and reality.

The present discussion is directed to experimentation on one individual not for his good but for patients in general. The patient who goes to a physician for relief consents, in the very act of going, to reasonable efforts to treat him, and very often this involves experimentation; our concern at this time presents more difficult problems than this. There is the disturbing and widespread myth that "codes" (all of which emphasize, above all else, consent) will provide some kind of security. While there is value, doubtless, to be gained from their examination as guides to the thinking of others on the subject, the reality is that any rigid adherence to codes can provide a dangerous trap: no two situations are alike; it is impossible to spell out all contingencies in codes. When an accident occurs, in the course of experimentation, it will be easy for the prosecution to show failure