Reichsrundschreiben 1931: pre-Nuremberg German regulations concerning new therapy and human experimentation

Abstract

This is the first re-publication and first English translation of regulations concerning Human Experimentation which were binding law prior to and during the Third Reich, 1931 to 1945. The introduction briefly describes the duties of the Reichsgesundheitsamt, which formulated these regulations. It then outlines the basic concept of the Richtlinien for protecting subjects and patients on the one hand and for encouraging New Therapy and Human Experimentation on the other hand. Major issues, like personal responsibility of the physician or researcher, teaching of ethics of research and therapy, and research and therapy on vulnerable populations, are compared with the regulations in the Nuremberg Code and subsequent regulations influenced by the Nuremberg Code.

KIE: Sass translates and comments on the Richtlinien, the pre-Nuremberg regulations concerning human experimentation which were binding law in Germany from 1931 through the end of the Third Reich in 1945. Stricter in some respects than the Nuremberg Code and subsequent regulations, these laws were intended to foster a morally aware system of public health care while encouraging research. Responsibility for maintaining professional and ethical standards within a medical institution was assigned more to the chief physician than to the individual physician or researcher, and no mention was made of advisory boards or committees. The article concludes with a re-publication in German of the original regulations.