How Ethics In Scientific Studies Have Been Shaped

0:00 Research involving human subjects is littered with a history of scandal

0:04 that often shapes people's views of the ethics of research.

0:07 Often the earliest cited case is English physician Edward

0:10 Jenner's development of the smallpox vaccine [music] in 1796,

0:15 where he injected an 8-year-old child with pus taken from a cowpox

0:18 infection and then deliberately exposed him

0:21 to an infected [music] carrier of smallpox.

0:23 Although Jenner's experiment was fortunately successful,

0:27 the method of exposing a child to a deadly disease

0:29 in this way would undoubtedly nowadays be seen as unacceptable.

0:32 [music] Perhaps the most notorious cases of unethical research were revealed

0:38 during the Nuremberg trials concerning [music]

0:40 Nazi experiments on concentration camp prisoners.

0:43 This research included involuntary sterilization, [music] inducing hypothermia,

0:49 and exposing their subjects to diseases [music] such as tuberculosis.

0:53 Yet, despite the litany of failures

0:55 to maintain ethical standards [music] in research, these remain the exception.

0:59 And the focus on scandals can seriously

1:01 [music] distort proper discussion about research ethics.

1:04 Ultimately, there is no universally accepted [music]

1:07 position as to how such research should proceed.

1:11 Laws and codes are far too general for deciding such cases,

1:14 [music] which is where ethical judgments,

1:16 committees, and arguments come in that allow agreement to be [music] reached.

1:20 These can delay research or draw on resources available for a trial,

1:24 but they [music] are essential if we are to maintain a high level

1:27 of scrutiny in often complex situations [music]

1:30 and prevent further scandalous cases from arising.