Failing to seek patients' consent to research is always wrong.(commentary on "Does HIV status influence the outcome of patients admitted to a surgical intensive care unit? A prospective double blind study," in this issue)

Doing research without the patient's consent is unethical in any part of the world because it violates the fundamental right of the patient to autonomy and self determination. Bhagwanjee et al violated that right because they feared that seeking consent of patients might jeopardise the scientific rigour of their study. They feared that patients at risk of HIV infection would be inclined to refuse the study, so limiting its value.

On what evidence did they base those fears? A separate study designed to find out the willingness of patients admitted to their unit to consent to HIV testing should have been their first step. Such a study might well have shown that their …