Essay On The Belmont Report

In the famous Belmont Report, several guidelines regarding informed consent, assessment of risk and benefits, and selection of subjects in addition to ethical practice and procedure in the area of human research are outlined. The Belmont Report attempts to summarize the basic ethical principles identified by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research (Belmont Report, 1979). In particular I would like to discuss the standards for informed consent, assessment of risk and benefits, and selection of test subjects drawn out by the Belmont Report. These three areas of interest are said to be the applications of the general

Through the ages, men have been able to find cures for catastrophic diseases through scientific research. Thanks to these advances, men have been able to prolong the life span of people, or provide better quality of life in cases in which a cure of various maladies has not been possible. To achieve such progresses, scientists have made use of prior knowledge, new theories, and technology obtaining numerous prodigious outcomes. Unfortunately, there have been many who have used questionable means for such ends. The German Max Clara is another case of a man with power and knowledge of science, who has misusing them. This paper aims to briefly identify principles and standards that would have been violated these days according to the existing APA Code of Ethics. Finally, ethical implications of making a moral judgment on past actions by researchers regarding human experimentation are discussed.

Based from this experiments, The Belmont Report Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research was submitted in April 18,1979 to …….? (“Impact,” n.d.).

Test subjects in medical experiments have always been a controversial topic, but this argument is often only thought of when animals come in to play. What about the humans who get tested on unwillingly, or people who do not possess the capability to consent to such procedures? They are also in need of someone to look out for them. Throughout time, many governments have done extreme testing to move forward their population’s health and for what they call the greater good. Yet, more often than not, these test have no rules or regulations. A moral code has been established slowly after many of these ghastly occurrences became known. Even to this day, we still have people trying to bypass ethical codes such as the Nuremberg code and the

Looking at the history of human research experiments necessitates investigation into the background; why is it not sufficient to simply to undertake an experiment merely to broaden scientific study and understanding? Are not the psychologists and scientists ethical and professional? The answer is quite simply, not always. While many psychologists may have started their experiments with the best of intentions, there were a number that merely seized opportunities that were in their grasp. Hence, there came the need for the Belmont Report and the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Code of Ethics in direct response to testing on human subjects.

Science, medicine, and psychology are powerful tools capable of increasing human understanding of the world, curing diseases, or assisting individuals in living more fulfilling lives. The potential for good is drastic; however, a potential for hurt exists as well. Although history is full of stories documenting the positives of research, events of scientific research hurting individuals still haunt history. These events, including the Holocaust and the Tuskegee experiments, demonstrate instances where scientific research on human beings is clearly unethical and damaging. Due to horrific events such as these, the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research published the Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research, or Belmont Report, in 1979.

The Belmont Report: Ethical principles and guidelines for the protection of human subjects of research. Retrieved December 13, 2011, from hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/belmont.html

Just by reading the table of contents from the Belmont Report, one can point out different topics that are directly related to the Tuskegee Syphilis study. For example, regarding the ethical principles and guidelines for research involving human subjects, the Belmont Report discusses about the boundaries between research and practice. The Tuskegee Syphilis study promised free care to enroll people in the study, when in reality the research study was observing the natural progression of untreated syphilis in rural African-American men. The Belmont report describes that practice refers “to interventions that are designed solely to enhance the well-being of an individual patient or client and that have a reasonable expectation of success”1, it

The research ethics, especially with the human subjects, is a very complex topic, and the completion of the certification opened my eyes on many aspects of research process. I learned how important it is to fully understand the research purpose and the methodology especially when selecting participants. I learned which populations are considered vulnerable, how to balance risk and potential benefits of research, and the importance of obtaining an informed, voluntary consent. I learned how important it is for researchers to ensure subjects confidentiality and privacy. Hardicre (2014) said that the research would be impossible without volunteers, and that the researchers “must act as patient advocates to ensure that every stage of the research

The Belmont Report identified three principles essential to the ethical conduct of research with humans:

Historically speaking, the treatment of humans and animals has been poor in the name of research. Instances such as those occurring in Nuremburg and Tuskegee set forth a foundation for governance in research of human subjects. Respect of the individual’s autonomy and the beneficence must be demonstrated in the study.

The first ethical principle stated by the Belmont Report is respect for persons. “Respect for persons incorporates at least two ethical convictions: first, that individuals should be treated as autonomous agents, and second, that persons with diminished autonomy are entitled to protection” (The Belmont Report). The researcher must respect the subjects decisions and be obliged to allow them to take part of the experiment voluntarily. The second

Bell (2005) mentioned that ethical research involves acquiring informed consent of people to be interviewed, questioned, observed or taken materials from and reaching to an understanding of how the data will be used and analysis will be reported and published. In guiding the activities of researchers, Denscombe (2010) described three ethical; “protection of participants’ interest”, “avoiding deception or misinterpretation” and “informed consent of participants”.

Throughout history there are many examples of humans conducting experiments on other humans. Over the years human experimentation has greatly advanced the knowledge of human physiology and psychology, leading to better treatments for ailments both physical and mental as well as a better overall understanding of the human constitution. Despite all of the good which human experimentation has done for the human race there have been times when experimenters have taken human experimentation past the bounds of morality. This unethical human experimentation is most often caused when the experimenters are, in some way, able to justify their experiments.

There are many ethical issues in the healthcare field. These issues range from insurance coverage, senior care, childhood immunizations, beneficence, abortion, medicinal marijuana, honesty and medical research (Fritzsche, D., 2004). Today we will discuss the ethical concerns in only one aspect of heath care and that topic is research (Benatar, S., 2000). Medical research is necessary in order to make strides in health care, introduce new medications, to discover new symptoms and disorders and to test new treatment options for current medical problems. Students of medicine, universities and pharmaceutical companies conduct this research primarily. Much of this research is time consuming and costly, therefore obtaining funding is not