1714: Charles Maitland, Smallpox

Dr. Leo Stanley, chief surgeon at San Quentin Prison for forty years, performed a wide variety of unethical experiments — which were eugenics in nature — on hundreds of prisoners. He focused on rejuvenating their masculinity through two bizarre methods: sterilization, and by implanting them with “testicular substances” from executed…

The Hippocratic medical ethics oath is attributed to Hippocrates, and was adopted as a guide to the  medical profession conduct throughout the ages and still used in the graduation ceremonies of many medical schools. In essence, the Hippocratic Oath: “Primum non nocere” (“First do no harm” or “Above all, do…

Jenner used children to test a theory — based on folklore, not scientific evidence — that cowpox, a disease common in the rural parts of western England in the late eighteenth century, conferred immunity against subsequent exposure to smallpox. He tested his theory primarily on healthy children. He injected eight-year-old…

Germany’s Ministry of the Interior issued “Guidelines for Human Experimentation” Unambiguous informed consent is mandatory; particular care must be taken when the subject is a child under 18; exploitation of patients who poor, or socially disadvantaged is prohibited; disclosure requirements — the purpose, justification, and the manner in which research…