Article 21 of the Quebec Civil Code: Its implications for research involving the elderly

The new Quebec Civil Code came into effect on January 1, 1994. This text en acted among other things the new provisions for consent to experimentation. In this article, we summarize these provisions and highlight the necessity of excluding from the majority of research protocols, people unable to con sent without legal representative. Thanks to the database of a recent study , we then show that this provision can render certain gerontological studie s invalid. This leads us to recommend that the Civil Code be amended in a w ay to allow impaired persons who are not legally represented to participate in studies that do not pose any serious risk to their health.