title: A Family-Oriented Decision-Making Model for Human Research in Mainland China.
abstract: This essay argues that individual-oriented informed consent is inadequate to protect human research subjects in mainland China. The practice of family-oriented decision-making is better suited to guide moral research conduct. The family's role in medical decision-making originates from the mutual benevolence that exists among family members, and is in accordance with family harmony, which is the aim of Confucian society. I argue that the practice of informed consent for medical research on human subjects ought to remain family-oriented in mainland China. This essay explores the main features of this model of informed consent and demonstrates the proper authority of the family. The family's participation in decision-making as a whole does not negate or deny the importance of the individual who is the subject of the choice, but rather acts more fully to protect research subjects.
authors.affiliation: Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China shddengrui@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Deng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rui
mesh_terms: D001675:Bioethics; D002681:China; D032903:Confucianism / Q000523:psychology*; D003469:Culture; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D005190:Family / Q000208:ethnology*; D005195:Family Relations; D006805:Human Experimentation; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000523:psychology*; D009014:Morals; D010686:Philosophy, Medical
keywords: family-oriented decision-making; human subjects research; informed consent; mainland China