Preview

Biomedical Research: The Nuremberg Code

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1127 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Biomedical Research: The Nuremberg Code
The original intentions behind The Nuremberg Code, which some credit as being the first set of ethical guidelines for the conduct of biomedical research, were to not only prevent the cruelty of the experiments mentioned during the Nuremberg Trials from being repeated, but also to have a future set of rules for investigators to be able to follow, and potentially prosecute, if it came it came to it again. While it is often regarded as being the first document of its kind, The Nuremberg Code was very heavily based in the Guidelines for Human Experimentation of 1931 (1931 Guidelines): a trend that has continued with each new set of ethical guidelines that is produced. The Nuremberg Code paved the way for the subsequent set of ethical guidelines, …show more content…

While it doesn’t explicitly credit -or even acknowledge- The Nuremberg Code, the similarities between them are undeniable. It is regularly updated and reviewed, and focuses on the obligations to the research subjects. Both The Nuremberg Code and the DoH are models for current U.S. research regulations, which will be further discussed later, in that they all require informed consent (from the subject or a proxy), and a prior peer research of research protocols (Shuster, "Fifty Years Later: The Significance of the Nuremberg Code"). While they are similar, there are some stark differences; The Nuremberg Code requires consent from the subject and The Declaration of Helsinki is more allowing, permitting a proxy to consent in their place. The differences aren’t just between The Nuremberg Code and the DoH, it’s also between the original (pre published) copy of the DoH and the then final copy. The unedited copy said that the subject could leave the experiment at any time they feel unable to wholly physically or mentally finish it, while the revised version specified that the researchers had an obligation to bring the experiment to an end if they felt it could hurt the subject, as well as the subject or proxy being able to pull out at any time (Carlson, Kenneth, & David, ““The Revision of the Declaration of Helsinki: Past, Present and Future”). While the DoH did have some relatively drastic edits between its creation and …show more content…

This committee was created by Congress in 1974 in response to the public reaction to the Tuskegee Syphilis experiments. They were required to identify the ethical principles and develop guidelines for the conduct of ethical research involving human subjects. Five years later, they had The Belmont Report drafted (“The Belmont Report”). It defined the boundaries between research and practice, and recognized the three most important principles: autonomy, beneficence, and justice. Each principle had a different group assigned to it so there was no risk of failure of compliance. Of course each of these sets of guidelines had their own limitations, and problems. None of them were perfect. Ethical guidelines could never, and will never be perfect. Ethics is a matter of opinion, what one person may find completely ethical, might be completely atrocious, and off putting to another. And even what is already set in stone, what is already fairly unspecific and ambiguous, can be completely switched around. Some adults (18+) may have the maturity of a child, and agree to a trial that they might not completely understand, even if it is explained to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    These were far worse than just scraping off a few samples of tissue. Procedures like lobotomies and the Tuskegee experiments, deep sleep therapy and human radiation experiments are just some of the scandalous and unethical procedures and studies that proved far more dangerous to the members participating. Scientists did not explain what they were doing to their patients and used the people involved as guinea pigs. Exposing them to painful and lethal amounts of radiation and drugs, or infected a large population with diseases to understand how it worked its course, and perhaps how to cure…

    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tuskegee, Alabama is important in the history of American bioethics because it catalyzed the formation of written, mandatory ethical principles. To explain, prior to this event, there was a general consensus amongst researchers that Americans will not overstep the bounds of research, not like the Nazis did. However, the Tuskegee Syphilis studies made it apparent that unless there are core ethical principles to follow, America might head in the same direction as Nazi Germany. The researchers in the Syphilis studies did not receive informed consent from the participants, and withheld treatment that was available. As this event received publicity, the US government knew it had to respond. Thus came the birth of bioethics, and the core ethical principles (Belmont Report) researchers must follow: Autonomy, Justice, Beneficence. Along with the principles, the IRB, a committee that approves and monitors research, was also established. This is why Tuskegee, Alabama is important.…

    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This introduced one of the first ethical implications in this experiment which was withholding information to gain consent.The USPHS conducted a screening in search of infected participants. After they had chosen the few hundred men to be apart of the experiments they began to moved forward with the study. The doctors lured these men into the study by saying that they were ill and had "bad blood".It was never explained to them why they were really being chosen for this treatment. In order to ensure the interest of the blacks, they began performing noneffective treatments on them such as giving the mercurial ointment. Also, they even used African American health care workers to mislead patients into compliance. These men endured much pain and were enrolled in various treatments without their consent.The second ethical implication was the withholding of treatment. This was the worst charge that the researchers had committed. Even in (year) when penicillin had become the primary treatment for syphilis, this information was also withheld and men were prevented from getting treatment. Though Alabama passed a law in 1927 requiring the reporting and treatment of diseases, the USPHS failed to do so when it came to tending to these…

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Many people have thought of the Nuremburg Trials as a very controversial topic, but I really only see one side to it. In my opinion, I believe that the Nuremburg Trials was a good and fair way to bring German military officials to justice. Firstly, after what they had done to the Jews, the Trials were the least that the Allies could have done. During WWII, the Nazi’s altogether managed to murder over 6 million Jews across Europe, so punishing the people who participated in the genocide wouldn’t be unfair at all. Therefore, the men who were forced to attend the Nuremburg Trials deserve to face the consequences for their crimes against humanity. In addition, if the trials never happened, the tragedy that happened to the Jewish population would have been left unanswered. For example, there were many Jewish holocaust survivors that had lost family and friends who were desperately looking for justice and revenge. For the sake of all the tragedies that the Jews had to face, the…

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Do you know any sets of twins? Josef Mengele loved experimenting on twins, he experimented on over 3,000 twins in Auschwitz. Josef Mengele was an SS physician, infamous for his inhumane medical experiments mainly based on twins. He believed twins held the secret to perfect genetic specimens. Josef Mengele was born on March 16,1911 and died of drowning on February 7,1974. He was referred to as “The Angel of Death” for the inhumane experiments performed on Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz concentration camp. Josef Mengele was a well known doctor and a part of the Nazi party known for his cruel and inhumane experiments towards people in concentration camps, especially twins.…

    • 693 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the article “Ethical Boundary-work in the Animal Research Laboratory” Pru Hobson-West writes about the three obstacles in regards to the occasion of talking about the ethics behind animal testing. The three “boundaries” that Hobson-West refers to are the need for animals to be tested with reference to the advancement of medicines, the impacts of “Home Office regulation” and the third is the difference between Human and Non-human animals (1). One of the main arguments that supports the use of animals in scientific experiments stated in this article is that when deciding whether or not it is ethical to use animals, you must determine whether or not humans have a higher moral value than animals (660). Another argument is whether or not restrictions…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Humans are the most complex creature ever to exist on the face of the Earth. For many years, researchers have conducted studies and experiments solely dedicated to understanding the human body and the process of various pathogenesis. The ultimate goal is to discover new and improved ways to protect the body from pathogens threatening the health and well-being of the human race today. Without research, many of the innovations, treatments, practices, and knowledge today would not exist- medicine and patient centered care would be minuscule, life expectancy would be greatly reduced, and evidence-based practice would possibly not exist. There is no doubt that research is…

    • 1010 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tuskegee Study Inhumane

    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Throughout the duration of the Tuskegee Study, many unethical situations had occurred. In fact, these inhumane events led to the creation of The Belmont Report. (1) The Belmont Report was designed to protect human research subjects by requiring researchers to practice ethically. The 3 defining principles of The Belmont Report include: Respect for Persons, Beneficence, and Justice. (2)…

    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    in the very early morning. Three sets of twins were found. They were taken to the…

    • 1424 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Of the 185 defendants of the Nuremberg Trials, 12 received a death sentence, 8 received life prison, and 77 received prison terms varying in numbers. Some had committed suicide before they could be executed. These executions caused the United Nations to create certain documents trying to keep world peace. For example, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created. Following World War II, the Nuremberg Trials impacted the world then and in the future in many ways. To begin, the Nuremberg Trials were a series of trials prosecuting and questioning Nazi war criminals. Next, the results of the trials were 7 more trials held for less important Nazi war criminals. Lastly, there were many Nazi war criminals still to be found.…

    • 732 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As the first semester of freshman year comes to an end, one final paper was required for English 198, an argument for a public audience. This assignment allowed the class to choose their own topic of interest and explore different stylistic choices that had not been available for previous papers. I decided to focus my argument on an issue that had come to my attention in my psychology class. Before regulations had been put in place by government policies, unethical human research took place around the world, specifically at the concentration camps during World War II. It is still in question whether this research should be referred to today due to the inhumane procedures used. I argued that despite the questionable scientific validity of some of the experiments, incompetent Nazi physicians, and dehumanization of the victims, the results of the Nazi experiments should be referred to when further research could result in saving lives. I intended for my argument to be published in The Guardian science blog because the debate rests on psychological principles. Throughout the process of writing this specific paper, along with the rest of the assignments that made up the course, I have learned many aspects of rhetorical analysis…

    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Tuskegee experiments are one of many times in science where ethics, morals, and simple fair treatment of human beings were completely neglected. The worst part of the “Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments” is that they were under the advisement of The United States Government. The Public Health Service began these experiments, which did not end until many years later. These experiments conducted on black men who suffered from syphilis. The PHS was interested to see what would happen to a man with syphilis if he went untreated.…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Doctors In The Holocaust

    • 1795 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The medical experiments can be divided into three categories: 1 - facilitating the survival of German military personnel, 2 - the testing of pharmaceuticals, and 3 - the advancement of the racial tenets of the Nazi worldview (Museum, Nazi Medical Experiments).…

    • 1795 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Prophecies of Nostradamus can be highly accurate when they predict very general and broad things, when they predict a specific thing, it usually fails to be accurate. Also, people tent to only notice the things prophecies predict…

    • 914 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment was a fundamentally unethical research project that began in 1932 and lasted 40 years ("U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee"). In the study, about 600 black men were told that they were being treated for “bad blood,” a colloquial term for syphilis (“U.S. Public Health”). In reality, the men were not being given any treatment and were merely acting as test subjects so that researchers from the U.S. Public Health Service could study the disease (“The Deadly Deception”). The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment clearly violated the ethical principles put forth in 1979 by the Belmont Report. The Belmont Report has three key components to protect the rights of human research participants: beneficence, autonomy, and justice.…

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays