The U.S. Government has since admitted that these drugs were known to be "experimental" at the time of use.
There is no provision in the Nuremberg Code that allows a country to waive informed consent for military personnel or veterans who serve as human subjects in experiments during wartime or in experiments that are conducted because of threat of war. However, the UNITED STATES Department of Defense (DOD) has recently argued that wartime experimental requirements differ from peacetime requirements for informed consent. According to the Pentagon, "In all peacetime applications, we believe strongly in informed consent and its ethical foundations.....But military combat is different."
Human Research Subject Protection
It appears that the U.S. has officially condoned human experiments in wartime without informed consent. A logical question then becomes does international law and opinion also agree that human experiments without consent are morally acceptable and valid in war? Nichols believes both law and opinion overwhelmingly see this as a War Crime.
"When the Nazi’s did this to the Jews it was a War Crime. What should we call it today? Ultimately I intend to bring legal charges against the United States for War Crimes." (Nichols)
There is no provision in the Nuremberg Code that allows a country to waive informed consent for military personnel or veterans who serve as human subjects in experiments during wartime or in experiments that are conducted because of threat of war. However, the UNITED STATES Department of Defense (DOD) has recently argued that wartime experimental requirements differ from peacetime requirements for informed consent. According to the Pentagon, "In all peacetime applications, we believe strongly in informed consent and its ethical foundations.....But military combat is different."
Human Research Subject Protection
It appears that the U.S. has officially condoned human experiments in wartime without informed consent. A logical question then becomes does international law and opinion also agree that human experiments without consent are morally acceptable and valid in war? Nichols believes both law and opinion overwhelmingly see this as a War Crime.
"When the Nazi’s did this to the Jews it was a War Crime. What should we call it today? Ultimately I intend to bring legal charges against the United States for War Crimes." (Nichols)