Human Experiments - Inform consent Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Experiments - Inform consent - Essay Example Medical research is usually carried out on animals, however, many researchers and practitioners do not find these methods of experimentation as accurate and as reliable as research conducted on humans. Hence, human experimentation is becoming a very popular mode of medical research for many practitioners and researchers. Human experimentation was first used in the nineteenth century where there was an increased demand for human experimentation in the areas of bacteriology, immunology and physiology. These researches were usually done without the knowledge and consent of the patients. When injury resulted for some of the patient-subjects, the public and the medical community was outraged. Questions were subsequently raised abut the suitability of these experiments. The first restrictions on human experimentation were issued by the Prussian minister for religious, educational, and medical affairs. These regulations became imperative because of the actions of Albert Neisser—professor of dermatology and venerealogy at the University of Breslau. In order to establish preventive means for syphilis, he injected prostitutes who were admitted to the hospital (for different medical reasons) with cell free serum from patients with syphilis. These prostitutes were not informed about the experiment that w ould be undertaken on them. When the patients were infected with syphilis, Neisser concluded that the vaccination and treatment he administered did not work. He was later fined and reprimanded by the Royal Disciplinary Court for his unethical actions. The court said that although his tests may have been harmless to the patients, he should have sought their consent before administering the serum to them. As a result of the Neisser case, a directive was issued to all hospitals and clinics advising that all medical interventions which were not related to diagnosis, healing and immunization should not be performed on minors and on