Regulatory issues.

Any medical decision generates consequences for the patient and for society. Medical practice should, therefore, be performed under the guidance of the following ethical principles: beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, justice, integrity, dignity, and vulnerability. The overarching objective of clinical research is to develop knowledge to improve health, and the subjects who participate are the means to securing such knowledge. Clinical research, as part of medical practice, should be ruled by the same ethical principles.