International Code of Medical Ethics

The Declaration of Geneva of the World Medical Association binds the physician with the words the health of my patient will be my first consideration, and the International Code of Medical Ethics declares that medical progress is based on research, which ultimately must rest in part on experimentation involving human subjects. In medical research on human subjects, considerations related to the well being of the human subject should take precedence over the interests of science and society. ... 

The Declaration of Geneva of the World Medical Association binds the physician with the words, The health of my patient will be my first consideration, and the International Code of Medical Ethics declares that. 

The WMA went on to adopt an International Code of Medical Ethics (1949). This was an attempt to develop international standards of medical ethics and sought to summarize the most important principles. It did not specifically address clinical research ethics. That topic was brought to the attention of the WMA Medical Ethics Committee in 1953. After several years of discnssion and research a draft declaration was finally tabled in 1961. It was adopted at the 18th WMA General Assembly, held in Helsinki in 1964. The main points in the declaration are ... 

In addition to the Nuremberg Code and Declaration of Helsinki, The International Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research Involving Human Subjects was issued in 1982 and revised in 1993 by the Council for the International Organization of Medical Sciences (CIOMS). Those guidelines define national policies for biomedical research, apply ethical standards to the circumstances often present in research in economically developing nations, and define mechanisms for ethical review of human subjects research. 

E.-H. W. Kluge. 2000. Professional codes for electronic HC record protection Ethical, legal, economic and structural issues. International Journal of Medical Informatics 60 85-96. 

In 1964, the World Medical Association established a statement of ethical principles to provide guidance to physicians and other participants in biomedical research involving humans. It was developed to correct the perceived deficiencies in the Nuremberg Code, especially on physician-led research with patients. The Declaration governs international research ethics and defines rules for research combined with clinical care and non-therapeutic research . The Declaration of Helsinki was revised in 1975, 1983, 1989 and 1996 and is the basis for GCP used today. A summarised version of the Declaration of Helsinki is shown in Table 6.1. 

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