Human Behavior
What Price Knowledge
I feel there is a definite need for knowledge in todays society, but
there is also a definite point when it has gone too far. It has gone too far
by conducting experiments on people without letting them know the
consequences and side effects that will place upon them. It has also
reached an extreme when the person becomes physically or mentally
impaired after the experiments . I see this treatment as both immoral
and unethical; there is no reason to harm a normally healthy person for some
advancement in scientific knowledge .
In doing research for this paper I have found many examples where
humans were used as 'guinea pigs' or killed. One example of this
misconduct was in 1959 it was a common practice for drug companies to
provide samples of experimental drugs, to physicians, who were then paid to
gather data on their patients taking the drugs.
Physicians throughout the
country prescribed there drugs to patients without their knowledge or consent
as part of this loosely controlled research. Example of this was the drug
sedative thalidomide was given to vast number of pregant women and caused
thousands of birth defects in newborn infants. Because of this event, the
Kefauver - Harris amendmants to food, drug and cosmetic act were passed
requiring informal consent be obtained in the testing of these drugs.
Another rascality research project was doctors injected live cancer
cells into underprivileged elderly patients without their permission. The
research went forward without review by the hospital's research committee
and over the objections of three physicians consulted, who argued that the
proposed subjects were unfit of giving ample consent to participate. The
revealing of the experiment served to make both officials and the Board of
Regents of the University of the State...
Comments
There is a very important experiment that has been done on the american public that you didn't mention, the vaccination. Many vaccines have been approved without much research only to find they cause much harm. They have been known to cause serious problems in children, and over the years, some of them have improved by using our children as research subjects. I do agree with you that it is immoral and unethical to do these projects, but unfortunately, too many people don't want to know and consent without arguement.
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