title: Legislative regulation and ethical governance of medical research in different European Union countries.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To obtain information about the similarities and differences in regulating different types of medical research in the European Union (EU).
  
  
  METHODS
  Web searches were performed from September 2009 to January 2011. Notes on pre-determined topics were systematically taken down from the web pages. The analysis relied only on documents and reports available on the web, reflecting the situation at the end of 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In several countries, regulatory legislation applied only to clinical trials on drugs and medical devices, in other states various types of research were also regulated but by laws different from those concerning trials, and in many countries, some research areas were not controlled by legislation at all. In very few countries was all medical research handled similarly from a legal point of view. The number of research ethics committees (RECs) in a single country varied from one to 264. Their areas of responsibility, working principles and length of time to grant research permission varied as well as the rules for obtaining informed consent from vulnerable groups. In 10 EU countries, there was no appeal mechanism after a negative decision by an REC. The RECs were not accountable to any organisation in five EU countries.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a need for a fundamental debate regarding whether and which kinds of changes are needed for the further harmonisation of medical research governance in the EU and how cross-country medical research could be facilitated in the future.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, National Institute for Health Development, Tallinn, Estonia.
authors.forename: Piret
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Veerus
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lexchin
authors.affiliation: Health and Social Services, THL, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Elina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hemminki
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D028744:Ethics Committees, Research / Q000941:ethics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005062:European Union / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D035862:Vulnerable Populations
keywords: Ethics Committees/Consultation; Legal Aspects; Scientific Research