Scientific misconduct and unethical human experimentation: historic parallels and moral implications

Although a great deal of human experimentation has been performed to elucidate information otherwise not obtainable, there are many recorded instances of unethical human experimentation. There is also a history of crimes that were committed and disguised as human experiments, best exemplified by the activities of some physicians in Nazi Germany from 1933 until 1945. As a direct result of these activities, a war-crimes trial after World War II resulted in the creation of the Nuremberg Code, to guide future human experimentation. Despite this, unethical experiments were conducted at major academic institutions in the United States in the years after World War II by otherwise normal physicians who did not feel that the Nuremberg Code applied to them personally. There are several possible explanations for such activities, but the desire for personal advancement is prominent among these. Episodes of scientific misconduct such as falsification of experimental data or of personal qualifications seem to be more commonly reported recently and have also been described in the popular press. This activity may also be motivated by desire for personal advancement, giving it a parallel to the conduct of unethical human experimentation. Education may be the best way to prevent these activities that may have similar motivating factors.