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The Pros And Cons Of Medical Research Experiment

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Medical Research has the potential to advance society and make life better for everyone in it. However, the ends cannot justify the means; the rights of the subjects of research cannot be violated no matter the possible benefit to mankind. Despite this, time and time again, it has been very easy for, at least allegedly well-meaning scientists to violate the rights of their research subjects because they wanted to help society as a whole. Such experiments were not performed in secret by a minority of scientists; they were often done “by respected investigators at leading medical institutions and were published in medical journals (Scandals and Tragedies 3)." It is vital that we understand the circumstances of these experiments and why they happened so …show more content…

Prior to Guatemala, it was attempted in a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, however, the researchers “were unable to come up with a method for consistently infecting prison inmates with gonorrhea, and therefore couldn 't study the disease effectively or administer potential treatments (Mariani)." The researchers knew they could not continue the experiments in the United States so they moved to Guatemala where they used even more unethical means to infect Guatemalan soldiers, mental patients, and prisoners. It is clear that they could not rationalize performing the procedures they used on the Guatemalans on American citizens; these experiments occurred because of the prejudice that foreigners are less than Americans and do not have human rights. Throughout history, countless horrific human rights violations, just like those in Guatemala, have occurred under the guise of medical research. Research ethics standards have sought to prevent these experiments from happening since the Nuremberg trials, but they continue to occur for reasons which tend to be based in prejudice, and by using methods which have often depended on taking advantage of vulnerable persons and

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“In 1999, president Clinton’s National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC) issued a report saying that federal oversight of tissue research is “inadequate” and “ambiguous”. It recommended specific changes that would ensure patients’ rights to control how their tissues were being used.” (page 327). Unfortunately, the changes were never made and scientists still have the ability to conduct research on one’s tissues without consent. The reason for why the changes were nullified remain unknown even to Wayne Grody an individual “who was in thick of the debate in the nineties, (for) why the congressional recommendations and NBAC report seemed to have vanished.”.

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The origination of HeLa cells, used in biomedical research for a potential cure for cancer, had made many ground breaking discoveries in science; all thanks to one woman, Mrs. Henrietta Lacks. The history of Mrs. Lacks’s contribution to these studies raised many ethical issues concerning healthcare practice. In the short film, The Way of All Flesh, we learn how these cells were revealed by direct violation of ethical principles. During the 1950s, matters regarding informed consent practices were in their beginning stages of implementation.

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It is ethical for doctors and other medical professionals to perform experimental surgery. It is ethical because if people never try something, you'll never find out if it works. In the text it states,

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An essential part of modern society relied on trust, especially the trust of doctors and scientists. People had the right to make an informed decision about their bodies and body parts. People had a right to their body parts, both attached and cell samples collected by doctors. The actions that the medical professions made will continue to affect future generations in both positive and negative ways. In the contemporary biographical novel, the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot used logical opinions to argue about the importance of consent to reveal the lack of morality from those in the medical field which continues to persist today.

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But unfortunately, the experiment was also never clearly explained to them, they had thought it was just the best possible treatment expected to cure the sickness they might have had. Many unethical practices were evident in this study, in this case, the most important one was informed consent, which is a consent given by a patient to a doctor for treatment with full knowledge of the possible risks and benefits. None of the participants in the Tuskegee study

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This is known as the Institutional Review Board (IRB), which governs research ethics in studies involving human subjects in order to ensure no ethical violations would occur and the patients were protected. Unfortunately it took these 600 African-American men and their families to help create a review board in order to make sure patients rights in biological experiments such as this one are reviewed to confirm patient’s rights and ethical principals are being followed throughout human

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Furthermore, we look back on these experiments as a reminder of how important these rules are. The dreadful atrocities shown and conducted by the Nazi doctors in concentration camps serve as a reminder and deathly warning of the importance of maintaining an ethical moral throughout medical

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“A Question of Ethics” by Jane Goodall and “Animal Research Saves Lives” by Heloisa Sabin presents two sides of the same coin in regards to Animal testing. Thereby, questioning the validity or necessity of animal research and testing today. In “A Question of Ethics” by Goodall she presents a scenery of the living conditions of the animals which are often isolated; posing the ultimate questions of, whether animal research is essential to medical research? Or How many tests are performed only to conform to laws and not out of scientific merit? The Suggestion was made that scientists should explore alternative options, such as testing on cell and tissue cultures.

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The experiment consisted of the U.S. Public Health Service injected and exposed the Guatemalan citizens to sexually transmitted diseases while trying to test antibiotics (Ventura; Russel). How is this constitutional? On top of it all the government tried to hide it. In fact all of these documents including the ones that are discussed in the

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For the Stanford Prison Study, it would have been ideal if stricter rules and guidelines were in place that clearly mentioned the roles of participants in such experiments, including appropriate behavior guidelines. This could have ensured that such experiments don’t go beyond their intended boundaries and that the rights of the participants are well respected. For the Immunization Study, stringent rules should have been in place that require more detailed assessment of the potential risks associated with such experiments, prior to the actual conduct of such research. Furthermore, proper medical attention and facilities should have been provided to the exposed population to ensure their

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A student from the Michigan University (2007) defines Bioethics as an activity which is a shared, reflective examination of ethical issues in health care, health science, and health policy. These fields have always had ethical standards, of course, handed down within each profession, and often without question. Hence, the discussion of this standards is called Bioethics. This discussions takes place in the media, in the academy, in classrooms, in labs, offices, and hospital wards. The conversation is often sparked by new developments, like the possibility of cloning.

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Human Experimentation in the 1900’s "The scientists of the world must remember that the research is being done for the sake of mankind and not for the sake of science; scientists must never detach themselves from the humans they serve (Wittenstein 29),” Eva Mozes Kor, who was a Nazi concentration camp survivor. In the early 1900’s , many new vaccines were being produced and doctors were becoming more and more confident. The new laws put into action had put fear into the doctors that the restrictions would stop the advancement of medicine. They ignored the laws and continued with the experimentation (Wittenstein 19.)

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"Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back." The human desire to know and manipulate the unknown is usually lauded—that is, until something terrible happens. Human experimentation achieved its height of international popularity during the World War II Nazi Nuremberg Doctors' Trials. The response to these atrocities forced world leaders to take action but also raised many questions, mostly concerning what limits humans have to unnaturally manipulate members of their own species. Human experimentation has numerous avenues to benefit mankind, but until lines are clearly drawn, man will continue to exploit human livelihood for the sake of research.

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Dr. Adrienne Lerner, Professor of Law and Jurisprudence at the University of Florida, argues that halting further research would in itself be unethical (2012). With the opportunity to prevent children from being born with debilitating diseases, why should we not pursue this opportunity? Scientists can sometimes view ethics as inhibiting when it comes to scientific progress, but Carolyn Neuhaus and Arthur Caplan, of the NYU School of Medicine, argue that ethics may indeed be helpful, even necessary, for the furtherance of medical innovation (2017). They argue that bioethics allows the representation of multiple perspectives and opinions, and by doing so, advances discussion and may lead to a conclusion. An example of this was the 2017 International Summit on Human Gene Editing, which was a committee made up of over twenty countries.

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Specific Purpose: By the end of my speech, the audience will know about the problem of conducting experiments on animals and the ethical issue of the cruel treatment of animals by the researchers. While the problem of conducting experiments on animals draws attention of the society, the speech would present the limitation of animal experiments and outline the alternatives. Central Idea: 1. Conducting experiments on animals has become one of crucial ethical issues of the modern society and it has even been banned in some countries.

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