“Ethics and Clinical Research” — The 50th Anniversary of Beecher’s Bombshell

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 374; no. 24; pp. 2393 - 2398
• Main Authors: Jones, David S, Grady, Christine, Lederer, Susan E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Massachusetts Medical Society 16.06.2016
• Subjects: Anniversaries and Special Events; Beecher Henry; Beecher, Henry K; Codes of Ethics - history; Conflict of Interest; Ethics, Research - history; History, 20th Century; Human Experimentation - ethics; Human Experimentation - history; Human subjects; Humans; Informed Consent - history; Medical ethics; Medical research; National Institutes of Health (U.S.) - ethics; National Institutes of Health (U.S.) - history; Research Personnel - ethics; Research Personnel - history; United States; World War II; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJMms1603756

Fifty years ago, Henry Beecher warned about serious problems with human-subjects research in the United States and exhorted researchers to reform. Research regulations proliferated in the ensuing decades, but new policies and procedures have not resolved every dilemma. Human-subjects research receives intense scrutiny today. Researchers, institutions, funders, and journals pay serious attention to ethical conduct. Yet controversies continue, whether about experimenting with oxygen levels in neonatal intensive care or with the duty hours of surgical residents. 1 , 2 Some commentators have even argued that anxiety over the ethics of Ebola research created delays that resulted in lost opportunities. 3 Many researchers and bioethicists believe that serious discussions of research ethics began after World War II. 4 – 6 The actual history is longer and more complex. Nonetheless, Henry Beecher’s “Ethics and Clinical Research,” published 50 years ago, played an important role. Beecher . . .