Research involving persons with impaired decision-making capacity (such as persons with Alzheimer disease [AD]) remains ethically challenging, especially when the research involves significant risk. If individuals incapable of consenting to research studies were able to appoint a research proxy, it would allow for an appointed surrogate (rather than a de facto surrogate) to represent the subject.
Center Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine, and Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, 300 N Ingalls St, 7C27, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. scottkim@umich.edu
