Iranian Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine

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In many countries around the world, we find important evidence about violation of ethics in medical research. In the United States, the history of unethical or even inhuman experiments on human subjects dates back to the time of slavery, and unfortunately, most subjects of these experiments were poor or black people, slaves, prisoners and physical/mentally ill patients. For instance, we refer to the Tuskegee study that was done on black people. Other examples are tormenting experiments on American or Nazi prisoners. In this paper, we will review some infamous unethical experiments and researches in terms of neglecting human dignity and the validity of the research. On the other hand, in response to these dreadful events, some ethical codes and guidelines have been established which we shall review. For instance, the Belmont Report and the Nuremberg Code which were developed in response to the Tuskegee study and Nazi experiments on human subjects, respectively. The medical history of our country, Iran, is free of such troubling acts however, this does not mean that ethical standards in medical research are fully observed. Therefore, in addition to items that have been enacted so far, to prevent such faults, it is necessary to enact professional codes and guidelines or legislated laws and regulations too.

Keywords: unethical research, history, medical ethics

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