Declaration of Helsinki (1975)

The Declaration of Helsinki (DOH) is a statement of ethical guidelines for medical research on human subjects, first published by the World Medical Association (WMA) in 1964 and revised seven times since then, most recently in 2013. The DOH is rooted in the Nuremberg Code, which was issued in 1947, in response to abuses of research subjects by Nazi doctors. Expanding on the principles of the Nuremberg Code, the DOH addresses many aspects of clinical research, and has grown in size and scope over its many revisions. The DOH has also inspired alternative documents and policies, both by exemplifying ethical standards and by provoking controversy.

The WMA was founded in 1946, 18 years before it produced the DOH, with 100 representatives from 32 different countries. The ...