“Like many doctors of his era, TeLinde often used patients from the public wards for research, usually without their knowledge. Many scientists believed that since patients were treated for free in the public wards, it was fair to use them as research subjects as a form of payment. And, as Howard Jones once wrote, ‘Hopkins, with its large indigent black population, had no dearth of clinical material.’” [pp. 29-30]
From our perspective in 2010, the above notion offends our sense of ethics on multiple levels — informed consent, economic justice, racial equality, and more. Yet at the time, it was perfectly normal and carried an implicitly understood moral justification. What practices do we take for granted and/or similarly justify today that our colleagues of the year 2070 might look back on and shake their heads? Please add your comments to the discussion.
Tags: ethics, HeLa, OC/OB 2010, Skloot
