The ethics of medical experiments: Have we learned the lessons of tuskegee and the holocaust?

Abstract

Although several decades have passed since the human subjects research abuses of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the Nazi medical experiments were uncovered, ethical misconduct in various forms continues today. An analysis of contextual factors of the times during which those abuses occurred is useful in understanding how health professionals abandoned their professional standards as well as their sworn oaths. Scientific progress from research and its promise of a more perfect world have a powerful allure, and the many challenges from today’s health care dilemmas create an urgency for solutions. Collecting and analyzing data for the purpose of biomedical research will continue to raise a host of ethical issues until there is clarity on the part of both researchers and participants about the purpose of the research and the beneficiary of the results. The human subjects researchers of today and tomorrow need to fortify their courage and integrity by reflecting on the lessons-positive and negative-of the past. Each researcher must develop an awareness of ethical values within society and raise critical questions regarding moral, ethical, and legal issues in the formulation of research protocols.