Ethical Committees and the ethics of clinical investigations on patients

Helen Hogdson's file of correspondence and papers relating to the ethics of clinical investigations on human subjects in hospitals and the number and composition of hospital Ethical Committees in Teaching and non-teaching hospitals.

Discussion centered around growing awareness of and concern about patients in public hospitals being used increasingly as human guinea pigs in experiments ranging from the use of new equipment to the inducing of certain conditions in patients, and balancing the potential harm to individuals against the benefit to humanity.

This file covers the Royal College of Physicians proposals that hospital Ethical Committees be more widespread; the Patients Association's urging to include lay members on Ethical Committees instead of just representatives from professional bodies; Joyce Butler's 1974 'Rights of Patients' Bill on the right of the patient to privacy when receiving hospital treatment under the NHS and in regard to medical experiments on human beings (was not supported by the government).

Includes correspondence with the DHSS and parliamentary representatives; off-print from Report of the Medical Research Council 'Responsibility in investigations on human subjects'; Medical Research Council booklet 'Responsibility in the use of medical information for research' (c.mid 1960s-early 1970s); NHS document 'Advice from the Advisory Group on Transplantation problems on the question of Amending the Human Tissue Act 1961', Jul 1969; extracts from Hansard Jan 1974 of debate on Right of Patients Bill introduction; Royal College of Physicians report of the 'Committee on the supervision of the ethics of clinical research investigations in institutions' Jul 1973 and similar report Jul 1967; paper regarding the DHSS 'Report of the professional investigation into medical and nursing practices on certain wards at Napsbury Hospital , nr. St Albans' 1973 - and programmes for behaviour modification in NHS hospitals; Patients Association reply to questionnaire of the Working Party on Ethical Guidelines for Programmes of Behaviour Modification, Oct 1974.

1971-1974

1 file