Ethical Considerations in Human Experimentation (original) (raw)

The ethics and politics of human experimentation

Journal of Medical Ethics, 1995

Book reviews 59 This book is a welcome addition to the literature on ethical issues as they affect children, and deserves to be widely used by teachers in child health care.

Ethical Aspects In Clinical Research

Journal of Oral Health and Community Dentistry

A n experiment is an attempt to discover something unknown or to test a supposition or principle, but we cannot be sure of the outcome. By definition, an experiment involves chance and it is because of this chance that ethics become paramount in the experiments, more so if they involve human subjects.(1) All innovative scientific interventions whether diagnostic, prophylactic or therapeutic should ultimately involve human subjects. The need of safeguards in human experimentation should incorporate several important codes and regulations for the protection of human subjects. The three human principles are(2) Beneficence, which requires that good should result, and harm should not result because of the experimentation. Respect for rights including the free choice of the subject and protection of the autonomy. Justice, which requires an equal distribution of burden and benefits.

Ethics and human experimentation

Physicians have conducted research on syphilis for centuries, seeking to understand its etiology and the means of transmission as well as find ways to prevent and cure the disease. Their research practices often strayed from today's ethical standards. In this paper we review ethical aspects of the long history of research on syphilis with emphasis on the experiments performed in the 20th century. The description of research around the time of World War II covers medical experiments carried out in US prisons and in the experimentation centers established by Japanese doctors in occupied territory, as well as experiments in Nazi Germany and the treatment of syphilitics there.

Research Involving Human Subjects- Ethical Perspective

Research involving human subjects are important to develop new therapeutics for the betterment of the human race. To take part in such research as volunteers is moral duty of any human. But such experiments should be justifiable and minimal risky for the participants. History of unethical research involving humans led to the development of many guidelines to make such research ethical as well as to gain maximum possible output. Several guidelines have been formulated to ensure research with human participants ethical. All the guidelines emphasize on one thing in particular- informed consent of the human subjects. Other considerations include rational benefit-harm ration, beneficence, justice, adequate research design and approval from proper authorities. All these guidelines aim to prevent any unethical research involving humans against their will.