This remark was made during the
Baby Doe controversy of the Regan administration. However, in Germany an
organization called Lebanshilfe, an organization for parents of intellectually
disabled infants has adopted a set of Ethical Foundational Statements one of
which is, ?The uniqueness of human life forbids any comparison - or, more
specifically, equation - of human existence with other living beings, with their
forms of life or interests? (Singer 202.) The revised counterpart to this
commandment states, ? Do not discriminate on the basis of species? (Singer 202).
This revised ethic is the one most rejected; it contradicts the fact all human
life is of worth and is more sensitive in most people. This sets forth the same
message that a sexist or racist would hate, because you are not part of my group
you are inferior. These ethical commandments or dictates provide a framework for
today?s unstable society. The American Medical Association has devised a set of
codes designed to guide researchers in their conduct during experimentation. The
American Medical Association?s Ethical Guidelines for Clinical Investigation
include:1. The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential.2.
The experiment should be such as to yield fruitful results for the good of
society, unprocurable by other methods or means of study, and not random or
unnecessary in nature. 3. The experiment should be so designed and based on the
results of animal experimentation and a knowledge of the natural history of the
disease or other problem under study that the anticipated results will justify
the performance of the experiment.4. The experiment should be so conducted as to
avoid all unnecessary physical and mental suffering and injury.5. No experiment
should be conducted when there is an a priori reason to believe that death or
disabling injury will occur; except, perhaps, in those experiments where the
experimental physicians also serve as subjects.6. The degree of risk to be taken
should never exceed that determined by the humanitarian importance of the
problem to be solved by the experiment.7. Proper preparations should be made and
adequate facilities provided to protect the experimental subject against even
remote responsibilities of injury, disability or death. 8.
The experiment should
only be conducted by scientifically qualified persons. the highest degree of
skill and care should be required through all stages of the experiment of those
who conduct or engage in the experiment. 9. During the course of the experiment
the human subject should be at liberty to bring the experiment to an end if he
has reached the physical or mental state where continuation of the experiment
seems to him to be impossible.10. During the course of the experiment the
scientist in charge must be prepared to terminate the experiment at any stage,
if he has probable cause to believe, in the exercise of good faith, superior
skill, and careful judgment required of him, that a continuation of the
experiment is likely to result in injury, disability, or death to the
experimental subject (Levine 171-74)Such codes form a conceptual framework for
the protection of human subjects. However, these guidelines are very vague for
use in actual practice; clearly human experimentation includes much more than
just the technical aspects. It includes mental, physical and emotional
perspectives that can not be covered on a sheet of paper; the purpose of a
structured written set of guidelines is totally to provide a rulebook by which
researchers follow in order to be ethically correct. A researcher gains
information through experimentation and they must have these guidelines
(McKenzie 287). An example of how these guidelines can assist, but not be of
complete structure would be the cancer injections. The Sloan-Kettering Institute
in New York is one of the country?s preeminent cancer centers. During the 1950?s
and 1960?s they conducted a series of experiments to determine if there was a
relationship between cancer and the immune system. The experimental hypothesis
was that, ? the immune system of cancer patients is depressed with respect to
that specific disease? (Levine 172). The scientists developed a program to test
the hypothesis; it was to inject malignant cancer cells into human subjects. We
do not know whether the volunteers were really being experimented on under
strictly voluntary conditions or not, but that is the problem with written
guidelines, they work on paper, but not necessarily in life (Levine 173). Must
we experiment on human beings?
