The introduction of any innovation or invention in medical technology requires sufficient testing to determine its safety and effectiveness. The fact that clinical trials are conducted on humans generates significant ethical debate regarding respect for such patients. Interestingly, this ethical debate gained significant attention after World War II, during the Nuremberg war crimes trials, where sentences for those who conducted biomedical experiments on prisoners were determined (The Belmont Report, 3). The National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects in Biomedical and Behavioral Research was created to establish ethical guidelines for research involving human subjects (2). The Commission achieved this through the publication of the Belmont Report, which summarizes the Commission's conclusions resulting from four days of deliberation (2). Through examination of the Belmont Report, it was discovered that the ethical principles of respect for persons, beneficence and justice have great application in biomedical research on human patients. Respect for the people participating in the study is supported through the application of ethical principles on autonomy. First, “individuals should be treated as autonomous agents” (The Belmont Report, 4). An autonomous individual is someone who can make a decision through his or her own reasoning. People have different degrees of autonomy due to various reasons, such as age or disability. This leads to the second principle according to which “people with reduced autonomy have the right to protection” (4). Those who are too young to fully understand a decision, as well as those who have been incapacitated in some way, need some measure of protection. Failing to maintain the correct position, doctors must make every effort to have respect for people, charity and justice. Respect for persons is about allowing individuals to make their own decisions unless they are incapacitated, which is achieved by using informed consent. Respecting beneficence means caring for the well-being of another individual; in the medical sector, this is best achieved by evaluating risks and benefits and attempting to achieve the most favorable relationship between the two. Respect for justice ensures that the benefits and burdens of a practice are equally distributed so that no individual has to bear all the burdens or receive all the benefits. The Belmont Report provides “ethical principles and basic guidelines” that physicians conducting medical research studies can follow to provide the most ethical treatment possible to their patients (The Belmont Report 2).