Ethical Use of Prisoners in Human Research
Brendan Wood
3/9/2012
Ethical Use of Prisoners in Human Research
Introduction and Background The use of humans as research subjects has been a long debated issue within the scientific community. There are a lot of factors that go into regulating such research studies, like limiting coercion, undue inducement, and vulnerability of the population of the subjects in the study. To help control these issues, there have been many guidelines that have been implemented to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the research subjects. Within healthcare and medical research, certain groups of people are offered special services and protections because they are considered vulnerable. Vulnerable populations include children, persons with mental disabilities, women who are pregnant, and prisoners. The CIOMS International Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research define ‘vulnerable persons’ as “those who are relatively (or absolutely) incapable of protecting their own interests. More formally, the may have insufficient power, intelligence, education, resources, strength, or other needed attributes to protect their own interests.” (6) Therefore, there are detailed guidelines that are designed to protect the rights and welfare of any vulnerable persons by requiring justifications for involving such individuals in research. It is essential for healthcare workers and researchers to identify subjects as vulnerable or not to make sure that resources are properly allocated to ensure that special protections and benefits are given to those who need it (8). There has been a long struggle to define vulnerability, which has led to arguments about its value as a factor in the distribution of resources an it’s appropriateness as a guiding principle in bioethics.
History of the use of Prisoners The abuse of the use of humans in research in recent history has made it evident for the need for a code of ethics protecting human research subjects. Both Nazi Germany and the Imperial
3/9/2012
Ethical Use of Prisoners in Human Research
Introduction and Background The use of humans as research subjects has been a long debated issue within the scientific community. There are a lot of factors that go into regulating such research studies, like limiting coercion, undue inducement, and vulnerability of the population of the subjects in the study. To help control these issues, there have been many guidelines that have been implemented to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the research subjects. Within healthcare and medical research, certain groups of people are offered special services and protections because they are considered vulnerable. Vulnerable populations include children, persons with mental disabilities, women who are pregnant, and prisoners. The CIOMS International Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research define ‘vulnerable persons’ as “those who are relatively (or absolutely) incapable of protecting their own interests. More formally, the may have insufficient power, intelligence, education, resources, strength, or other needed attributes to protect their own interests.” (6) Therefore, there are detailed guidelines that are designed to protect the rights and welfare of any vulnerable persons by requiring justifications for involving such individuals in research. It is essential for healthcare workers and researchers to identify subjects as vulnerable or not to make sure that resources are properly allocated to ensure that special protections and benefits are given to those who need it (8). There has been a long struggle to define vulnerability, which has led to arguments about its value as a factor in the distribution of resources an it’s appropriateness as a guiding principle in bioethics.
History of the use of Prisoners The abuse of the use of humans in research in recent history has made it evident for the need for a code of ethics protecting human research subjects. Both Nazi Germany and the Imperial
References: 1) Arboleda-Florez, J. 2005. The Ethics of Biomedical Research on Prisoners. Current Opinion in Psychiatry 18, 514-517. 2) Chwang, E. 2010. Against Risk-Benefit Review of Prisoner Research. Bioethics 24 (1), 14-22. 3) Gostin, L. 2007. Biomedical Research Involving Prisoners. American Medical Association 297 (7), 737-740. 4) Levine, C & Faden, R. et al. 2004. The Limitations of “Vulnerability” as a Protection for Human Research Participants. The American Journal of Bioethics 4 (3), 44-49. 5) Lopez-Munoz, F. & Alamo, C. et al. 2006. Psychiatry and Political-Institutional Abuse From the Historical Perspective: The Ethical Lessons of the Nuremberg Trial on Their 60th Anniversary. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry 31, 791-806. 6), R. 2003. Bioethics, Vulnerability, and Protection. Bioethics 17, 472-486. 7) Nickel, P. 2006. Vulnerable populations in Research: The Case of the Seriously Ill. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 27, 245-264. 8) Rouf, M. 2004. Vulnerability, Vulnerable Populations, and Policy. Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 14 (4), 411-425. 9) Thomas, D. 2010. Prisoner Research- Looking Back or Looking Forward? Bioethics 24 (1), 23-26. 10) York, D. 2003. Protection of Human Subjects in Research Trials. Am. J. END Technol. 43, 54-59.