THE FRENCH HURIET LAW ON THE PROTECTION OF PERSONS INVOLVED IN BIOMEDICAL-RESEARCH

The Huriet Law aimed at protection persons involved in biomedical research was passed in France on December 20, 1988, and has been implemented since late 1991. This law requires that studies be approved by review committees. Requests for review have mainly involved drug trials, whereas submissions for surgical procedures and biomedical materials have been less numerous. The main problem with implementation of the Huriet law has concerned investigations with no private sponsor : research institutions and hospitals are unable to fund many of their planned investigations. The Huriet law has already had significant positive effects, including better adherence to good clinical practice guidelines, compliance with consent requirements stated in the Declaration of Helsinki, and more satisfactory drug delivery in the hospital.