ABSTRACT
From 1947 to 1975, the Nuremberg Code was practically ignored by both national and international medical organizations, including the World Medical Association. In order to detect and characterize the effect that the Nuremberg Code had on ethical norms that followed it, a very simple heuristic instrument was used: a schematic list of the ten precepts of the Code of Nuremberg that have been taken as markers of its influence. The subject, according to Nuremberg, is a morally responsible being who, after obtaining sufficient information and knowledge of the full implications of the experiment and a decision to participate, consents voluntarily. The codes from before 1975 omit the ethical treatment of experiments on humans or simply pay them rudimentary attention. On 30 January 1953, the Medical Association of Brazil approved a Code of Ethics, officially recognized as Law No. 3268 on 30 September 1957.
