[Medical research in paediatrics: ethical issues].
Since 1947 (the Nuremberg Code), the ethics of experimentation on human beings is based on the principle of the informed consent of the subjects participating in the research. In this context, research in paediatrics raised particular and difficult problems. International regulations have evolved in a way that has permitted paediatric research, within strict limits. However, recent studies have shown that the level of clinical paediatric research remains weak. There are economic reasons for this. But it also reveals the persistence of an ethical conflict: some people fear that a relativisation of the principle of consent (proxy consent) will lead to weakened protection for the most vulnerable subjects, including children. The ethics of responsibility requires a balance between the protection of the child as an individual (who should never become a medical guinea-pig) and the protection of children as a group (who should never be deprived of the benefits of the medical research).
Amann
Jean-Paul
JP
College de France, Chaire de Philosphie des Sciences Biologiques et Médicales, Paris, France. jean-paul.amann@college-de-france.fr
D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000941:ethics* / Q000592:standards*; D002648:Child; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000941:ethics* / Q000592:standards