The Institutional Review Committee is an important social innovation promising the effective protection of the rights of elderly potential research subjects. However, unnecessary elaboration of informed consent procedures may risk excluding older persons from both primary and secondary benefits of the research process. (Author)

Articles in this special issue look at ethical issues in aging in geriatric care, improving care of the dying, the value of autonomy and respect, the role of religion in health-related decisions, protection of nursing facility residents, physician-assisted dying, conflict resolution in nursing homes, and dealing with patients' demands for…

The National Multicultural Seminar on Mental Retardation among Minority Disadvantaged Populations was initiated in response to concern about the root causes of mental retardation especially in mild forms which tend to be more prevalent and more devastating among persons living in depressed, disrupted, and impoverished environments. Nineteen papers…