Consent in emergency research: new regulations.

The new regulations around consent that came into force in May 2004 give a much clearer framework for consent in emergency medicine research, particularly in situations where the patients cannot consent for themselves. This gives a clear way forward for anyone designing a research project and is likely to resolve a number of long term difficulties that have inhibited research in our speciality. However, there are a number of areas that are still unclear and advice to researchers has lagged behind changes in the law.