Reference no: EM133456660

Assignment:

What makes the medical experiments in Tuskegee, Guatemala, Nazi Germany, and elsewhere so repugnant is the brute disregard for human life based upon race or ethnicity, and the clear violation of an individual's right to informed consent.

We have discovered that in regards to human experimentation, informed consent means two things. First, that a patient is informed as much as he or she can be in regards to the experiment, and second, that the patient gives their free and un-coerced consent to participate.

But there are many gray areas with the standard of informed consent.

Use Case Study 18 in Case Studies in Health Care Ethics, Timothy Eves. on medical experiments in a prison context. Please provide quotes to support your stance.

1. Some have argued that prisoners cannot truly give informed consent, since they are already in a distressing environment, and would do anything for extra favors (more time in the workout room, more visiting hours, a reprieve from the monotony of prison life..etc). Thus permitting medical experiments in prison is a form of exploitation. Do you think that medical experiments in prison are morally permissible? If so, what standards would you use to ensure that the volunteers are treated fairly.