» But, if I pick randomly AND record the results, thus doing science to find out which was best, that's an unauthorised medical experiment and I could lose my job or even go to jail.

Perhaps we can try to cut down the red tape a little but we can't eliminate the idea of informed consent. If you're doing a study on patients, they absolutely have a right to know and a right to refuse to be a part of your study without any repercussions.

I think informed consent is something we can't get rid of even if we do something drastic and eliminate medical licensing altogether.