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Tuskegee Syphilis Study
In 1932, the USPHS, working with the Tuskegee Institute, began a study to record the natural history of syphilis. It was originally called the “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male” (now referred to as the “USPHS Untreated Syphilis Study at Tuskegee”). -
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Nazi Germany and Eugenics
Nazi Germany has been described as a “biocracy,” a national culture that justified the killing of millions of “undesirable” individuals through appeals to pseudo-science and eugenics. This took place through the rise of the Nazi Party through World War 2. -
The Nuremberg Trials
After the war, Allied powers—United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union—came together to form the International Military Tribunal (IMT). From 1945 to 1946, Nazi Germany leaders stood trial for crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to commit any of the foregoing crimes. -
Henry Beecher Publishes his Article on Research Ethics
In the summer of 1966, the medical profession was hit with a bombshell. Henry K Beecher published “Ethics and Clinical Research”, a landmark article, often called “Beecher's bombshell”, which described 22 examples of clinical research he deemed ethically questionable. -
Case of Karen Ann Quinlan
When she was 21, Quinlan became unconscious after she consumed Valium along with alcohol while on a crash diet and lapsed into a coma, followed by a persistent vegetative state. After doctors, under threat from prosecutors, refused the request of her parents, Joseph and Julia Quinlan, to disconnect Quinlan's ventilator, which the parents believed constituted extraordinary means of prolonging her life, her parents filed suit to disconnect Quinlan from her ventilator. -
Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health, 497 U.S. 261 (1990)
Aa landmark decision of the US Supreme Court involving a young adult incompetent. The first "right to die" case ever heard by the Court. In a 5–4 decision, the Court affirmed the earlier ruling of the Supreme Court of Missouri and ruled in favor of the State of Missouri, finding it was acceptable to require "clear and convincing evidence" of a patient's wishes for removal of life support. A significant outcome of the case was the creation of advance health directives. -
The Case of Terri Schiavo
Terri was a woman in an irreversible persistent vegetative state. Schiavo's husband and legal guardian argued that Schiavo would not have wanted prolonged artificial life support without the prospect of recovery, and in 1998 elected to remove her feeding tube. Schiavo's parents disputed her husband's assertions and challenged Schiavo's medical diagnosis, arguing in favor of continuing artificial nutrition and hydration.