Holocaust as an Inflection Point in the Development of Bioethics and Research Ethics

Abstract

Modern research ethics arose as a response to the scientific and medical communities’ participation in the Holocaust. The Holocaust remains the only example of medically sanctioned genocide and thus can provide critical lessons regarding the importance of valuing basic ethical principles ahead of the potential for scientific progress in the contemporary context of research ethics. This chapter will explore the trajectory of research ethics using the Holocaust as an inflection point. It will briefly describe the difference between medical and research ethics before and after the Holocaust, and then show how the lessons of the Holocaust not only influenced the creation of the Nuremberg Code but also the subsequent development of the Declaration of Helsinki, the Belmont Report, the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (The Common Rule), and the International Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research Involving Human Subjects.