Editorials

Informed consent: the intricacies

Should the BMJ reject all studies that do not include informed consent? That's a simple question, and surely the answer should be equally simple–"Yes." Unfortunately, ethical questions rarely allow simple answers, and we want help with answering this one. This issue includes a cluster of material that relates to the question. We publish the material–including two studies in which informed consent was not sought–to encourage debate and to arrive at a deeper understanding if not a simple answer.

Medical journals must consider the ethical aspects of all the material they publish, and medical editors are presented with ethical issues just as often as doctors–that is, every day. Almost everything that doctors and editors do has an ethical aspect. However, a paper published last month in JAMA shows that many journals do not give their authors clear ethical guidance.¹ A survey of the published instructions to authors of the 102 major . . . [Full text of this article]

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Relevant Article

Informed consent in medical research

David E Bratt, Pat Soutter, Martin Bland, Paul Little, Ian Williamson, Dennis O Chanter, Sarah Stewart-Brown, Hazel Thornton, Wendy Holmes, Joseph N E Ana, Colin Morley, Moli Paul, A Hassiotis, Mark F G Hulbert, Carl E Counsell, Peter A G Sandercock, Peter Wilmshurst, Michael Baum, Charles Montgomery, Anna Lydon, Keith Lloyd, Christopher Wiltshire, A C Frosh, and J Hanif
BMJ 1997 314: 1477. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Finlay, K A, Fernandez, C V (2008). Failure to report and provide commentary on research ethics board approval and informed consent in medical journals. J. Med. Ethics 34: 761-764 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Fernandez, C. V. (2005). Publication of ethically suspect research: should it occur?. Int J Qual Health Care 17: 377-378 [Full text]  
• Rogers, W A, Draper, H (2003). Confidentiality and the ethics of medical ethics. J. Med. Ethics 29: 220-224 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Boter, H., van Delden, J. J M, de Haan, R. J, Rinkel, G. J E (2003). Modified informed consent procedure: consent to postponed information. BMJ 327: 284-285 [Full text]  
• Rees, E., Hardy, J. (2003). Novel consent process for research in dying patients unable to give consent. BMJ 327: 198- [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Bauchner, H. (2002). Protecting Research Participants. Pediatrics 110: 402-404 [Full text]  
• Bellin, E., Dubler, N. N. (2001). The Quality Improvement-Research Divide and the Need for External Oversight. AJPH 91: 1512-1517 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Bauchner, H., Sharfstein, J. (2001). Failure to report ethical approval in child health research: review of published papers. BMJ 323: 318-319 [Full text]  
• Ruiz-Canela, M., de Irala-Estevez, J., Martinez-Gonzalez, M. A., Gomez-Gracia, E., Fernandez-Crehuet, J. (2001). Methodological quality and reporting of ethical requirements in clinical trials. J. Med. Ethics 27: 172-176 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Foëx, B A (2001). The problem of informed consent in emergency medicine research. Emerg. Med. J. 18: 198-204 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Dickinson, K., Bunn, F., Wentz, R., Edwards, P., Roberts, I. (2000). Size and quality of randomised controlled trials in head injury: review of published studies. BMJ 320: 1308-1311 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Kerridge, I., Lowe, M., Henry, D. (1998). Personal paper: Ethics and evidence based medicine. BMJ 316: 1151-1153 [Full text]  
• Doyal, L., Tobias, J S, Warnock, M., Power, L., Goodare, H. (1998). Ethical debate: Informed consent in medical research • Informed consent---a response to recent correspondence • Changing the BMJ's position on informed consent would be counterproductive • Informed consent---a publisher's duty • Trial subjects must be fully involved in design and approval of trials • Studies that do not have informed consent from participants should not be published. BMJ 316: 1000-1005 [Full text]  
• Torgerson, D. J, Roland, M. (1998). Understanding controlled trials: What is Zelen's design?. BMJ 316: 606-606 [Full text]  
• Fontanarosa, P. B., Glass, R. M. (1997). Informed Consent for Publication. JAMA 278: 682-683 [Abstract]  
• Pfeffer, N., Alderson, P., Campbell, H., Boyd, K. M, Surry, S. A M, Cullinan, T., Squire, S B, Hawley, R, Macfarlane, S, Agbaje, S, Beeching, N J, Wyatt, G B, Koning, K D., Gray, N, Hayward, C, Ali, A, Bianco, A E, Taylor, M, Brabin, B, Coulter, J B S, Daly, M d. B., Elbourne, D., Snowdon, C., Garcia, J., Epstein, K., Sloat, B., Mohanna, K., Woodcock, T., Norman, J., Sikorski, J., Watson, R., Wilson, P., House, A., Knapp, P., Williamson, C., Sutton, G. C, Garvican, L., Wilson, R., Malin, A., Lockwood, D., Mhlongo, S W P, Mdingi, G V, Ashcroft, R., Toth, B., Mant, J., Winner, S., Carter, J., Wade, D. T, Stott, D J, Langhorne, P, Rodgers, H, Rutter, D., Brewin, T., Barer, D. (1997). Informed consent. BMJ 315: 247-247 [Full text]  
• Bratt, D. E, Soutter, P., Bland, M., Little, P., Williamson, I., Chanter, D. O, Stewart-Brown, S., Thornton, H., Holmes, W., Ana, J. N E, Morley, C., Paul, M., Hassiotis, A, Hulbert, M. F G, Counsell, C. E, Sandercock, P. A G, Wilmshurst, P., Baum, M., Montgomery, C., Lydon, A., Lloyd, K., Wiltshire, C., Frosh, A C, Hanif, J (1997). Informed consent in medical research. BMJ 314: 1477-1477 [Full text]