Emedinews:Insights on Medicoleagl issues:WMA guidelines for clinical research combined with professional care

The mission of a medical doctor is to safeguard the health of the people. The Declaration of Geneva of the World Medical Association (WMA) binds the doctor with the words, "The health of my patient will be my first consideration." In the treatment of the sick person, the doctor must be free to use a new diagnostic and therapeutic measure, if in his/her judgment it offers hope of saving life, re–establishing health or alleviating suffering.

• The potential benefits, hazards and discomfort of a new method should be weighed against the advantages of the best current diagnostic and therapeutic methods.
• In any medical study, every patient including those of a control group, if any, should be assured of the best proven diagnostic and therapeutic method.
• The refusal of the patient to participate in a study must never interfere with the doctor–patient relationship.
• If the doctor considers it essential not to obtain informed consent, the specific reasons for this proposal should be stated in the experimental protocol for transmission to the independent committee.
• The doctor can combine medical research with professional care, the objective being the acquisition of new medical knowledge, only to the extent that medical research is justified by its potential diagnostic or therapeutic value for the patient.

(Ref: 18th World Medical Assembly, Helsinki, Finland, 1964 and revised by the 29th World Medical Assembly, Tokyo, Japan, 1975