Disregard for the Nuremberg Code

Torture is a moral issue, argues the National Religious Campaign against Torture. It has come back home again in a corruption of medical practice and scientific research, as the Physicians for Human Rights materials demonstrate.

Meredith Wadman of Nature writes:

According to Nancy Berlinger, a research scholar who studies clinical ethics at The Hastings Center in Garrison, New York, the report is distressing in part because it reveals a complete disregard for the Nuremberg Code. The 1947 code was created in response to evidence of Nazi-era experimentation and forms the basis for subsequent US regulations governing research. "To see evidence of experimentation on detainees in US custody feels like a body blow to people who care about research ethics," says Berlinger.