Research Ethics
RESEARCH ETHICS:
BACKGROUND AND DEFINITION
DEFINITION
Research ethics provides guidelines for the responsible conduct of biomedical research. In addition, research ethics educates and monitors scientists conducting research to ensure a high ethical standard.
BRIEF HISTORY The birth of modern research ethics began with a desire to protect human subjects involved in research projects. The first attempt to craft regulations began during the Doctors Trial of 1946-1947. The Doctors Trial was a segment of the Nuremberg Trials for Nazi war criminals. In the Doctors Trial, German Nazi physicians were accused of conducting abhorrent and torturous “experiments” with concentration camp inmates. The accused physicians tortured brutalized, crippled, and murdered thousands of victims in the name of research. Some of their experiments involved gathering scientific information about the limits of the human body by exposing victims to extreme temperatures and altitudes. The most gruesome and destructive experiments tested how quickly a human could be euthanatized in order to carry out the Nazi racial purification policies most efficiently. To prosecute the accused Nazi doctors for the atrocities they committed, a list of ethical guidelines for the conduct of research the Nuremberg Code were developed.
The Nuremberg Code consisted of ten basic ethical principles that the accused violated.1 The 10 guidelines were as follows:
1. Research participants must voluntarily consent to research participation
2. Research aims should contribute to the good of society
3. Research must be based on sound theory and prior animal testing 4. Research must avoid unnecessary physical and mental suffering
5. No research projects can go forward where serious injury and/or death are potential outcomes 6. The degree of risk taken with research participants cannot exceed anticipated benefits of results 7. Proper environment and protection for participants is necessary
8. Experiments can be
BACKGROUND AND DEFINITION
DEFINITION
Research ethics provides guidelines for the responsible conduct of biomedical research. In addition, research ethics educates and monitors scientists conducting research to ensure a high ethical standard.
BRIEF HISTORY The birth of modern research ethics began with a desire to protect human subjects involved in research projects. The first attempt to craft regulations began during the Doctors Trial of 1946-1947. The Doctors Trial was a segment of the Nuremberg Trials for Nazi war criminals. In the Doctors Trial, German Nazi physicians were accused of conducting abhorrent and torturous “experiments” with concentration camp inmates. The accused physicians tortured brutalized, crippled, and murdered thousands of victims in the name of research. Some of their experiments involved gathering scientific information about the limits of the human body by exposing victims to extreme temperatures and altitudes. The most gruesome and destructive experiments tested how quickly a human could be euthanatized in order to carry out the Nazi racial purification policies most efficiently. To prosecute the accused Nazi doctors for the atrocities they committed, a list of ethical guidelines for the conduct of research the Nuremberg Code were developed.
The Nuremberg Code consisted of ten basic ethical principles that the accused violated.1 The 10 guidelines were as follows:
1. Research participants must voluntarily consent to research participation
2. Research aims should contribute to the good of society
3. Research must be based on sound theory and prior animal testing 4. Research must avoid unnecessary physical and mental suffering
5. No research projects can go forward where serious injury and/or death are potential outcomes 6. The degree of risk taken with research participants cannot exceed anticipated benefits of results 7. Proper environment and protection for participants is necessary
8. Experiments can be