Prohibition on research involving psychiatric patients subject to coercion

This paper compares legislation on clinical research conducted on patients subject to coercion in the Scandinavian countries and the UK, examines it from a human rights perspective, and problematizes the Danish legal model as the only one employing a total ban on this kind of research. Reference is made to the consequences to evidence-based psychiatric care improvements and international ethical principle statements generally entitling psychiatric patients to treatment under similar ethical and scientific conditions as patients with other illnesses, given the absolute premise that the patient does not object to research participation and always retains the right to withdraw

Legislation of direct-to-consumer genetic testing in Europe: a fragmented regulatory landscape

Despite the increasing availability of direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing, it is currently unclear how such services are regulated in Europe, due to the lack of EU or national legislation specifically addressing this issue. In this article, we provide an overview of laws that could potentially impact the regulation of DTC genetic testing in 26 European countries, namely Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Emphasis is placed on provisions relating to medical supervision, genetic counselling and informed consent. Our results indicate that currently there is a wide spectrum of laws regarding genetic testing in Europe. There are countries (e.g. France and Germany) which essentially ban DTC genetic testing, while in others (e.g. Luxembourg and Poland) DTC genetic testing may only be restricted by general laws, usually regarding health care services and patients' rights.status: publishe