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Related Experiment Videos

Children as guinea pigs: historical perspective.

Susan E Lederer1

  • 1Yale University, School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06510, USA. susan.lederer@yale.edu

Accountability in Research
|October 14, 2003
PubMed
Summary

Children have historically been subjects in medical research, including vaccine and drug trials. Ethical concerns and regulations for child participants have evolved over more than a century.

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Area of Science:

  • Medical Ethics
  • Pediatric Research
  • History of Medicine

Background:

  • Children have been involved in medical experimentation for centuries.
  • Vulnerable populations, including children, have often been unwitting research subjects.
  • Historical experimentation includes vaccine trials, physiological studies, and drug development.

Observation:

  • Early medical research frequently utilized children, particularly institutionalized ones.
  • Key historical instances include the first cowpox vaccine trial, rabies vaccine trial, and Listerian antisepsis.
  • Concerns regarding the ethical treatment of child research participants emerged over a century ago.

Findings:

  • The paper examines historical cases of child participation in medical research.
Keywords:
Biomedical and Behavioral ResearchNuremberg CodeWorld Medical Association

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  • It traces the evolution of ethical considerations and regulatory frameworks for pediatric research.
  • The development of guidelines, such as the Declaration of Helsinki, is discussed.

    • Implications:

    • Understanding historical experimentation with children informs current ethical standards.
    • The history highlights the need for robust protections for vulnerable populations in research.
    • This historical perspective is crucial for ongoing ethical debates in clinical research.