Sham neurosurgery in patients with Parkinson's disease: is it morally acceptable?

For a few decades, patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) have been treated with intracerebral transplantations of fetal mesencephalic tissue. The res ults of open trials have been variable. Double blind, placebo-controlled st udies have recently been started ill order to further investigate the effic acy of this new medical technique. In this paper we challenge the need for sham surgery in neurotransplantation research on PD patients. Consideration s regarding the research subjects' informed consent, therapeutic misconcept ion, the integrity of the human body: and the assessment of risks and benef its argue against sham surgery for patients with PD. Moreover, there is an alternative, less harmful mode of research that can provide the same or com parable scientific evidence. A plea is made for intrapatient research based on quantitative measurements of the patient's pre- and post-operative cond ition combined with similar research on a reference group of patients who h ave received the standard treatment.