title: [Do ethics committees hinder progress in medicine?].
abstract: Research Ethics Committees are instruments which allow the medical profession to control the research with human subjects. In this context, some medical researchers criticize the increasing bureaucracy and the hindrance of research which interfere with the ability to compete in international research. On the other hand, the public criticizes the missing transparency, independence and democratic legitimization of Research Ethics Committees as well as the possible conflicts of interests of their members. The medical research with human subjects who are incompetent to give informed consent serves as an example to show the necessity of quality control and standardized criteria of assessment. By comparison with the development of Institutional Review Boards in the United States, ideas for the necessary changes of Research Ethics Committees in Germany regarding their work, assembly and transparency are developed.
authors.affiliation: Arbeitsgruppe Ethik in der Medizin, Institut für Geschichte der Medizin, Freien Universität Berlin. vollmann@ukbf.fu-berlin.de
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vollmann
mesh_terms: D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D028744:Ethics Committees, Research; D005858:Germany; D006805:Human Experimentation; D006801:Humans; D014481:United States
vernacular_title: Behindern Ethikkommissionen den Fortschritt in der Medizin?