obscure legislation

Today I learned that until 1997, the government was allowed to experiment on people without their consent. Apparently a nurse brought the situation to people's attention by discussing it on the radio, thereby providing the outrage necessary to produce section 1078 in HR 1119, which specifically spells out that the government can't use human subjects unless they have informed consent. Having worked on a project with human subjects and some government funding in 2001 and 2002, I can tell you it's a hassle and they're strict.

I find it alarming that it took until 1997 to pass a law like that, but I found out about it almost ten years after the fact, which renders this information almost boring, so have a sunset: