The Radiologist Peered into his ultrasound scanner and beamed. "Congratulations, "he announced. "It's a girl." Rajendra Jain could feel his heart sink. Two daughters already and now another on the way. He glanced furtively

Sterilization is the most popular method of contraception in India. The 1992-93 National Family Health Survey found that of the 36.2 percent of eligible couples using any modern method, most (30.7 percent) had been sterilized and only 5.5 percent were using temporary methods (IIPS 1995).

The quinacrine trials raise a host of questions regarding the safety of this method of sterilization and the methodology used to assess this.

Recent publicity about unethical trials raises a number of questions about research in developing countries.

Doctors in India are questioning the ethics of a study which observed the natural course of precancerous uterine cervical lesions without treatment in women who had not given written consent to take part.

Otempora! O mores! This cri decoeur will perhaps be evoked in those reading the spate of reports lately, on surreptitious "trials" on the non-surgical sterilization of women with quinacrine, being carried out by NG0s and private doctors in a host of places in the country.

Persons testing positive for infection by HIV or showing evidence of AIDS provoke revulsion and fear in medical doctors. These reactions stem from the general knowledge that the diagnosis of AIDS is akin to a death sentence and the belief that a positive HIV test is, inevitably.

There is a widespread feeling that there has been a general erosion of ethical standards even in professions, which have been considered 'noble'. This has prompted a soul-searching exercise to understand the problems involved.

Modern medical practice is by its very nature an interventionist one and in principle, all medical interventions need the informed consent of the patient to be ethically correct.