Research Law

California Laws on Human Experimentation

24170. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Protection of Human Subjects in Medical Experimentation Act.

24171. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that medical experimentation on human subjects is vital for the benefit of mankind, however such experimentation shall be undertaken with due respect to the preciousness of human life and the right of individuals to determine what is done to their own bodies.

The Legislature further finds and declares that:

(a) The Nuremberg Code of Ethics in Medical Research was developed after the trial of Nazi war criminals for unethical use of persons in medical experiments; subsequently, the Declaration of Helsinki additionally established recommendations guiding doctors in experimentation involving human subjects.

(b) Neither the Nuremberg Code nor the Declaration of Helsinki are codified under law and are, therefore, unenforceable.

(c) It is necessary that medical experimentation be done in such a way as to protect the rights of the human subjects involved.

(d) There is, and will continue to be, a growing need for protection for citizens of the state from unauthorized, needless, hazardous, or negligently performed medical experiments on human beings.

It is, therefore, the intent of the Legislature, in the enacting of this chapter, to provide minimum statutory protection for the citizens of this state with regard to human experimentation and to provide penalties for those who violate such provisions.

24172. As used in the chapter, "experimental subject's bill of rights," means a list of the rights of a subject in a medical experiment, written in a language in which the subject is fluent. Except as otherwise provided in Section 24175, this list shall include, but not be limited to the subject's right to:

(a) Be informed of the nature and purpose of the experiment.

(b) Be given an explanation of the procedures to be followed in the medical experiment, and any drug or device to be utilized.

(c) Be given a description of any attendant discomforts and risks reasonably to be expected from the experiment.

(d) Be given an explanation of any benefits to the subject reasonably to be expected from the experiment, if applicable.

(e) Be given a disclosure of any appropriate alternative procedures, drugs or devices that might be advantageous to the subject, and their relative risks and benefits.

(f) Be informed of the avenues of medical treatment, if any, available to the subject after the experiment if complications should arise.

(g) Be given an opportunity to ask any questions concerning the experiment or the procedures involved.

(h) Be instructed that consent to participate in the medical experiment may be withdrawn at any time and the subject may discontinue participation in the medical experiment without prejudice.

(i) Be given a copy of the signed and dated written consent form as provided for by Section 24173 or 24178.

(j) Be given the opportunity to decide to consent or not to consent to a medical experiment without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, coercion, or undue influence on the subject's decision.

24173. As used in this chapter, "informed consent" means the authorization given pursuant to Section 24175 to have a medical experiment performed after each of the following conditions have been satisfied:

(a) The subject or subject's conservator or guardian, or other representative, as specified in Section 24175, is provided with a copy of the experimental subject's bill of rights, prior to consenting to participate in any medical experiment, containing all the information required by Section 24172 and such copy is signed and dated by the subject or the subject's conservator or guardian, or other representative, as specified in Section 24175.

(b) A written consent form is signed and dated by the subject or the subject's conservator or guardian, or other representative, as specified in Section 24175.

(c) The subject or subject's conservator or guardian, or other representative, as specified in Section 24175, is informed both verbally and within the written consent form, in nontechnical terms and in a language in which the subject or the subject's conservator or guardian, or other representative, as specified in Section 24175, is fluent, of the following facts of the proposed medical experiment which might influence the decision to undergo the experiment, including, but not limited to:

(1) An explanation of the procedures to be followed in the medical experiment and any drug or device to be utilized, including the purposes of such procedures, drugs, or device. If a placebo is to be administered or dispensed to a portion of the subjects involved in a medical experiment, all subjects of such experiment shall be informed of such fact, however, they need not be informed as to whether they will actually be administered or dispensed a placebo.

(2) A description of any attendant discomfort and risks to the subject reasonably to be expected.

(3) An explanation of any benefits to the subject reasonably to be expected, if applicable.

(4) A disclosure of any appropriate alternative procedures, drugs or devices that might be advantageous to the subject, and their relative risks and benefits.

(5) An estimate of the expected recovery time of the subject after the experiment.

(6) An offer to answer any inquiries concerning the experiment or the procedures involved.

(7) An instruction to the subject that he or she is free to withdraw his prior consent to the medical experiment and discontinue participation in the medical experiment at any time, without prejudice to the subject.

(8) The name, institutional affiliation, if any, and address of the person or persons actually performing and primarily responsible for the conduct of the experiment.

(9) The name of the sponsor or funding source, if any, or manufacturer if the experiment involves a drug or device, and the organization, if any, under whose general aegis the experiment is being conducted.

(10) The name, address, and phone number of an impartial third party, not associated with the experiment, to whom the subject may address complaints about the experiment.

(d) The written consent form is signed and dated by any person other than the subject or the conservator or guardian, or other representative of the subject, as specified in Section 24175, who can attest that the requirements for informed consent to the medical experiment have been satisfied.

(e) Consent is voluntary and freely given by the human subject or the conservator or guardian, or other representative, as specified by Section 24175, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, coercion, or undue influence.

24174. As used in this chapter, "medical experiment" means:

(a) The severance or penetration or damaging of tissues of a human subject or the use of a drug or device, as defined in Section 109920 or 109925, electromagnetic radiation, heat or cold, or a biological substance or organism, in or upon a human subject in the practice or research of medicine in a manner not reasonably related to maintaining or improving the health of the subject or otherwise directly benefiting the subject.

(b) The investigational use of a drug or device as provided in Sections 111590 and 111595.

(c) Withholding medical treatment from a human subject for any purpose other than maintenance or improvement of the health of the subject.

24175. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no person shall be subjected to any medical experiment unless the informed consent of such person is obtained.

(b) If a person is under a conservatorship of the person or of the person and estate, pursuant to Division 4 (commencing with Section 1400) of the Probate Code, informed consent for a medical experiment involving such person shall be obtained:

(1) As provided in Section 2354 of the Probate Code if the person has not been adjudicated to lack the capacity to give informed consent for medical treatment.

(2) As provided in Section 2355 of the Probate Code if the person has been adjudicated to lack the capacity to give informed consent for medical treatment.

(c) If an adult person is gravely disabled, as defined in subdivision (h) of Section 5008 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, and is under a conservatorship of the person or of the person and estate, pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 5350) of Part 1 of Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, informed consent for a medical experiment involving such person shall be obtained from such person, unless the conservator of such person has the right to consent to medical treatment on behalf of the conservatee, pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 5357 and Section 5358 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(d) If an adult person is developmentally disabled, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 4512 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, and has no conservator and is mentally incapable of giving informed consent, informed consent shall be obtained for a medical experiment involving such person, pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 4655 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(e) Informed consent given by a person other than the human subject pursuant to subdivisions (b) through (d), inclusive, of this section shall only be for medical experiments related to maintaining or improving the health of the human subject or related to obtaining information about a pathological condition of the human subject.

24176. (a) Any person who is primarily responsible for conduct of a medical experiment and who negligently allows such experiment to be conducted without a subject's informed consent, as provided in this chapter, shall be liable to such subject in an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), as determined by the court. The minimum amount of damages awarded shall be fifty dollars ($50).

(b) Any person who is primarily responsible for the conduct of a medical experiment and who willfully fails to obtain the subject's informed consent, as provided in this chapter, shall be liable to such subject in an amount not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) as determined by the court.

(c) Any person who is primarily responsible for the conduct of a medical experiment and who willfully fails to obtain the subject's informed consent, as provided in this chapter, and thereby exposes a subject to a known substantial risk of serious injury, either bodily harm or psychological harm, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed one year or a fine of ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both.

(d) Any representative or employee of a pharmaceutical company, who is directly responsible for contracting with another person for the conduct of a medical experiment, and who has knowledge of risks or hazards with respect to such experiment, and who willfully withholds information of such risks and hazards from the person contracting for the conduct of the medical experiment, and thereby exposes a subject to substantial risk of serious injury, either bodily harm or psychological harm, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed one year or a fine of ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both.

(e) Each and every medical experiment performed in violation of any provision of this chapter is a separate and actionable offense.

(f) Any attempted or purported waiver of the rights guaranteed, or requirements prescribed by this chapter, whether by a subject or by a subject's conservator or guardian, or other representative, as specified in Section 24175, is void.

(g) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or expand the right of an injured subject to recover damages under any other applicable law.

24177. This chapter shall not supersede, but shall be in addition to, Article 4 (commencing with Section 111515) of Chapter 6 of Part 5 of Division 104 of this code and Title 2.1 (commencing with Section 3500) of Part 3 of the Penal Code.

24177.5. (a) This chapter shall not apply to any medical experimental treatment that benefits a patient subject to a life-threatening emergency if all of the following conditions are met:

(1) Care is provided in accordance with the procedures and the additional protections of the rights and welfare of the patient set forth in Part 50 of Title 21 of, and Part 46 of Title 45 of, the Code of Federal Regulations, in effect on January 1, 1997.

(2) The patient is in a life-threatening situation necessitating urgent intervention and available treatments are unproven or unsatisfactory.

(3) The patient is unable to give informed consent as a result of the patient's medical condition.

(4) Obtaining informed consent from the patient's legally authorized representatives is not feasible before the treatment must be administered. The proposed investigational plan shall define the length of time of the potential therapeutic window based on scientific evidence, and the investigator shall commit to attempting to contact a legally authorized representative for each subject within that length of time and, if feasible, to asking the legally authorized representative contacted for consent within that length of time rather than proceeding without consent.

(5) There is no reasonable way to identify prospectively the individuals likely to become eligible for participation in the clinical investigation.

(6) Valid scientific studies have been conducted that support the potential for the intervention to provide a direct benefit to the patient. Risks associated with the investigation shall be reasonable in relation to what is known about the medical condition of the potential class of subjects, the risks and benefits of standard therapy, if any, and what is known about the risks and benefits of the proposed intervention or activity.

(b) Nothing in this section is intended to relieve any party of any other legal duty, including, but not limited to, the duty to act in a nonnegligent manner.

(c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2011, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2011, deletes or extends that date.

24178. Except for this section and the requirements set forth in Sections 24172 and 24176, this chapter shall not apply to any person who is conducting a medical experiment as an investigator within an institution which holds an assurance with the Department of Health, Education and Welfare pursuant to Part 46 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations and who obtains informed consent in the method and manner required by such regulations.

24179. This chapter shall not apply to a pharmacist dispensing drugs upon a prescription.

24179.5. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, this chapter does not apply to an adult in a terminal condition who executes a directive directing the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures pursuant to Section 7188. To the extent of any conflict, Division 4.7 (commencing with Section 4600) of the Probate Code prevails over the provisions of this chapter.