In

accordance with Polish law, doctors are entitled to conduct two types

of medical experiments: research and therapeutic. The research

experiment focuses on expanding medical knowledge, and it can be

carried out in patients or healthy subjects. The participants in

these experiments are not exposed to risk, or the risk is small

and proportionate to the effects. By contrast, therapeutic

experiments involve the use of new or only partially tested

diagnostic, therapeutic, or prophylactic methods that can only be

used if the existing methods are ineffective or provide

insufficient efficacy. The aim of a therapeutic

experiment is to improve the health of a patient, and

it may offer the only chance to improve or maintain

the patient’s condition. A medical experiment must be

approved by an independent bioethics committee. Herein, we provide an

analysis of Polish legal documents and their relevance to

medical experiments.