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Protecting Soldiers From Friendly Fire: The Consent Requirement For Using Investigational Drugs And Vaccines In Combat, George J. Annas
Protecting Soldiers From Friendly Fire: The Consent Requirement For Using Investigational Drugs And Vaccines In Combat, George J. Annas
Faculty Scholarship
In 1990, following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the Department of Defense (DOD) sought a waiver of the informed consent requirements of existing human experimentation regulations from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). With this waiver, DOD could authorize military use of investigational drugs and vaccines on soldiers involved in the Gulf War without their informed consent. The basis of the waiver request was military expediency. In DOD's words: "In all peace time applications, we believe strongly in informed consent and ethical foundations... but military combat is different." DOD's rationale was that informed consent under combat conditions was "not feasible" because …