Who determines whether a medical intervention falls within the parameters of an experiment? Historical case is examined by Maria Rentetzi, who addresses the issue in “The Women Radium Dial Painters as Experimental Subjects (1920-1990), or; What Counts as Human Experimentation?” She notes . . . Continue reading →
Informed Consent
Government Experiments Increase Risk of Death
Several major government-sponsored experiments conducted at major academic institutions highlight increasingly inappropriate clinical trial designs that disregard the individual survival needs of critically ill patients who cannot give or refuse consent to research. Their incapacity is exploited in experiments that increase the . . . Continue reading →
Ethics of ARDS lung experiment debated
Alliance for Human Research Protection Fri, 18 Jul 2003 Dear Dr. Campbell and others concerned about ethical research: This is in response to your July 11 comments objecting to AHRP’s criticism of the ethics of two controversial ARDS experiments sponsored by the . . . Continue reading →
Accountability Demanded – NYC Foster Children AIDS drug trials
The efforts of AHRP to hold the medical research community and government administrators accountable for unethical exploitation of vulnerable children in medical experiments conducted in violation of federal regulations. Continue reading →
2006: Fake Blood Experiments Without Consent: Is Your City Participating? FDA: Closed Door Meeting
Scientists and entrepreneurs have tried for years to develop a safe and universal blood substitute that did not spoil after 42 days. However, all such efforts have encountered serious safety problems.
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August 20, 1947: Judgment at Nuremberg
Judgment at Nuremberg All sixteen Nazi doctors were found guilty; seven were sentenced to death and executed, nine were convicted and sentenced to prison, and seven were acquitted. Karl Gebhardt was found guilty of “crimes against humanity” and war crimes for his . . . Continue reading →
World Medical Association, a haven for leading Nazi doctors
In 1946, the World Medical Association (WMA) was formed by representatives of 32 national medical associations. In 1947, one month after the conclusion of the Nuremberg Trial, the WMA held its first meeting, when it adopted a new physician’s oath, omitting injunctions . . . Continue reading →
1964: Declaration of Helsinki diverges from the Nuremberg Code
In 1962, the World Medical Association (WMA) Committee distributes a Draft Code of Ethics on Human Experimentation specifying populations that could not be used as research subjects. These include: children in institutions; all prisoners and persons retained in prisons, penitentiaries, or reformatories, . . . Continue reading →
Fred A. Baughman, Jr. MD
A neurologist in private practice for 35 years, he differentiates real diseases — epilepsy, brain tumor, multiple sclerosis, etc. — from “no disease” diagnoses — emotional, psychological, psychiatric. . . . Continue reading →
Nora Coffey
Nora Coffey is a prominent women’s health advocate, activist and educator who founded the Hysterectomy Educational Resources and Services (HERS) Foundation in 1982. The foundation is the only independent nonprofit organization solely dedicated to the alternatives to and aftermath of hysterectomy. In . . . Continue reading →
Carl Elliott, MD, PhD
Carl Elliott, MD, PhD, is professor at the Center for bioethics, University of Minnesota, the author of several books including White Coat, Black Hat. In 2014 Dr. Elliott received the Pellgrino Medal to honor his contributions to healthcare ethics. For several years . . . Continue reading →
Jay Katz, MD (1922–2008)
An eminent scholar, a professor of law and ethics at Yale Law School who spent more than 50 years tackling confounding questions on the boundaries between law, medicine, psychology and ethics. An inspirational teacher and mentor not only to his law students . . . Continue reading →