Drug study on kids won’t require consent

May 24, 2007

Children in 11 major cities who suffer life-threatening seizures will, for the first time, be enrolled in a drug study without their parents’ consent, the National Institutes of Health announced Wednesday.

The trial, which will test how two well-established drugs work in children who have seizures that last for more than 30 minutes, is being conducted under a controversial federal rule that allows researchers to test human subjects in an emergency without consent. (USA Today)