Medical experiments on humans and the development of guidelines governing them: the central role of dermatology

The advancement of medical science has come, at times, at the expense of patient comfort and dignity. Over the years, guidelines for human experimentation have become more defined and regulated, often after events in which researchers egregiously abused or neglected their subjects. From this specialty's very beginning, dermatologists have also been guilty of crossing these lines of professional behavior and ethics. Questionable studies sponsored and performed by some of dermatology's most esteemed names continued even into the late 20th century.