Bioethics Research Library: Bioethics Resources

American Medical Association Code of Medical Ethics

The American Medical Association was founded in part to establish the world's first national code of medical ethics. The Code is widely recognized as the most comprehensive ethics guide for physicians.

Apology for Study Done in Tuskegee

On May 16, 1997, in the East Room of the White House, President Bill Clinton issued a formal apology for the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male, the "longest nontherapeutic experiment on human beings" in the history of medicine and public health.

Belmont Report

The Belmont Report was written by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. The Commission, created as a result of the National Research Act of 1974, was charged with identifying the basic ethical principles that should underlie the conduct of biomedical and behavioral research involving human subjects and developing guidelines to assure that such research is conducted in accordance with those principles

Declaration of Helsinki

The World Medical Association (WMA) has developed the Declaration of Helsinki as a statement of ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects, including research on identifiable human material and data.

International Declaration on Human Genetic Data

The purpose of the Declaration is to ensure the respect of human dignity and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the collection, processing, use and storage of human genetic data, in keeping with the requirements of equality, justice and solidarity

International Ethical Guidelines for Health-Related Research Involving Human

The ethical principles laid out in these Guidelines, although initially aimed at medical research, are regarded as universal and, as a general aim, should be upheld in the ethical review of all research protocols. This version of the Guidelines broadens the scope of the 2002 Guidelines from “biomedical research” to “health-related research”. The current scope covers the classic activities that fall under health-related research with humans, such as observational research, clinical trials, biobanking and epidemiological studies.

Islamic Code of Medical Ethics

The First International Conference on Islamic Medicine, held in Kuwait in January 1981, endorsed this Islamic Code of Medical Ethics with the hope that every Muslim doctor would "find in it the guiding light to maintain his professional behaviour within the boundaries of Islamic teachings."

Nuremberg Code

The Nuremberg Code set the standard for every subsequent attempt to regulate human experimentation. Its first principle remains, 70 years later, its most important: the requirement of the voluntary, competent, informed, and understanding consent of the human subject.

Universal Declaration of Bioethics and Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Bioethics and Human Rights aims to define the universally acceptable norms, principles and procedures in the field of bioethics, in conformity with human rights as enshrined in international law.

Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights

The Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights states that no research or research applications concerning the human genome, in particular in the fields of biology, genetics and medicine, should prevail over respect for the human rights, fundamental freedoms and human dignity of individuals or, where applicable, of groups of people.

World Medical Association International Code of Medical of Medical Ethics

The World Medical Association (WMA) has developed the International Code of Medical Ethics as a canon of ethical principles for the members of the medical profession worldwide. In concordance with the WMA Declaration of Geneva: The Physician’s Pledge and the WMA’s entire body of policies, it defines and elucidates the professional duties of physicians towards their patients, other physicians and health professionals, themselves, and society as a whole.