The Proposed EU-regulation on Clinical Trials on Medicinal Products: An Unethical Proposal?

The Commission has proposed a regulation 'on clinical trials on medicinal products for human use' to introduce one regulatory framework for clinical trials in the European Union. This regulation should replace the current clinical trials directive (2001/20/EC). In this article we describe and critically review the main provisions of the proposed regulation. We assess the consequences for a sound authorisation procedure of clinical trials and the level of protection for human subjects. We note that the proposed regulation is inconsistent with applicable international legal documents, such as the Biomedicine Convention and the Declaration of Helsinki. We conclude that the proposed regulation does not ensure a "high level of human health protection" - required by its legal basis in the TFEU - because it may force Member States concerned to accept a reporting Member States' approval of - in their estimation - an unethical clinical trial.