Storm rages over revisions to Helsinki Declaration

Hopes of reaching consensus on how to revise the Declaration of Helsinki without compromising the interests of people taking part in clinical trials in developing countries seem as far off as ever and may even be unrealistic, an international workshop heard last weekend.

The declaration, which has served as the ethical cornerstone of biomedical research for the past 35 years, has been the subject of fierce debate since 1997, when the …