Human Volunteer in Military Biomedical Research (Military Medical Ethics. Volume 2, Chapter 19)

摘要

There are extensive regulations and guidelines that govern what can, after appropriate review, be done in biomedical and behavioral research involving human subjects. These policies, though they may prescribe what scientists should or should not do, cannot adequately cover everv situation researchers might currently encounter nor can they anticipate every potential situation that will arise in the future. When disregard for basic human rights in experimentation has occurred even in relatively recent times, it brings to the forefront the need to continually examine the practices of previous scientists to endeavor never to make the same mistakes again. Understanding the history of others' mistakes is a first step in learning to do what is right. Understanding change is part of that. What used to be acceptable practices may seem entirely inappropriate from a more current viewpoint, and there will continue to be phenomenal change. For example, in recent years the human genome has been completely deciphered, mammals have been cloned, and patient records wvill soon be largely electronic. Technology allows personal and medical information to be kept track of in ways unimagined even a decade ago. What new ethical challenges will these developments bring to research on human health and disease.