Hepatitis Study Summary

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The purpose of the paper is to critique and analyze the research surrounding hepatitis experiments conducted at Willowbrook State School. More specifically, it will analyze the ethical concerns that have come to raise many questions over time about the experiments done. Between the years 1956, spanning approximately, 15 years until 1971, mentally handicapped children residing at the state school would be the subjects of an experiment in which they were intentionally infection with hepatitis (Frankenburg, 2017). The man who would conduct this study was Dr. Saul Krugman. Initially, Dr. Krugman was brought on to help rid the facility of the disease, which was spreading through the residents, due to the already crowded and unsanitary conditions …show more content…

In 1974 the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research worked in establishing a set of ethical guidelines, called the National Research Act, in which those performing research are to follow (Office for Human Research Protections, 2016). This Belmont review while not only helping to establish a set of ethical principles it also discussed the way in which this can be correctly applied. As a whole it addresses three main areas. These include the boundaries between practice and research, basic ethical principles including respect for persons, beneficence and justice and lastly their applications which consists of informed consent, risk versus benefit and the selection of research participants (Office for Human Research Protections, …show more content…

On one hand the basis of this research relied on the concept of it helping the good of society while completely taking away the autonomy, beneficence and justice of those in which it was conducted on the other (Nieswiadomy, 2012). Krugman’s intentional infection of the children for the purpose of experimenting and understanding more about the disease itself skewed the boundaries between practice and research. These tests served of no benefit to the children as they were not being treated. Justice is the concept of treating each person equally and get fair treatment (Nieswiadomy, 2012). The subjects being tested on were not only children but children suffering from a disease that already caused them to function as a lower mental capacity than

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