Unethical research in United States history

Questions: Research Ethics

Questions:

1. The editors of your text call the Tuskegee Study “…perhaps the most profound case of unethical research in United States history.” What ethical lessons do you take away from the details of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study? In some ways, the lessons are crystal clear: get informed consent! What more subtle ethical lessons do you think we should learn from this case? Of course, you can talk about consent. Is there something more we should learn from this episode about consent? It may be helpful to think about the motivations of the medical professionals who worked on the Tuskegee project or knew about it for years. Why didn’t they speak up?

Length: 300 words

2. Your excerpt from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story of how research is currently conducted on human tissue samples. Most interestingly, such research happens often without the consent of the person from which the issue was removed. Given the reasons given on both sides of the argument for and against explicit consent for tissue research, where do you stand on the issue? Why? Which reasons seem most important to you?

length 300 words

If you would also like to address research ethics issues in the news these days, feel free to briefly mention the ethical questions involved. Certainly COVID-19 is pushing the limits of human subjects research – including “challenge trails”.