Alliance for Human Research Protection

Description

The Alliance for Human Research Protection, or AHRP, is a national network of laypeople and health professionals in the United States. It was founded by Vera Sharav and works to uphold ethical standards of medicine, drawing on the Hippocratic Oath, the Nuremberg Code and UNESCO’s bioethics declaration. Its aim is to protect the right to voluntary, informed consent in medical research.

AHRP runs educational campaigns providing ethical, legal and technical information, aimed at both professionals and the general public. It works to counter exaggerated claims about the benefits of drugs, medical devices and vaccines, while highlighting evidence of the risks. As a citizens’ watchdog group, it brings specific violations of informed consent to public attention.

The organization recommends essential safeguards for clinical trials, including full disclosure of risks, the option to leave a study protocol when a patient’s health is endangered, a genuine standard-of-care comparison arm, and mandatory training and licensing for researchers. Its board of directors are unpaid volunteers. AHRP shares its findings through published articles and reports aimed at both professionals and the public.