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Overview
Long before the U.S. government began conducting secret radiation and germ-warfare experiments, and long before the Tuskegee syphilis experiments, medical professionals had introduced—and hotly debated the ethics of—the use of human subjects in medical experiments. In Subjected to Science, Susan Lederer provides the first full-length history of biomedical research with human subjects in the earlier period, from 1890 to 1940.
Lederer offers detailed accounts of experiments—benign and otherwise—conducted on both healthy and unhealthy men, women, and children, including the yellow fever experiments (which ultimately became the subject of a Broadway play and Hollywood film), Udo Wile's "dental drill" experiments on insane patients, and Hideyo Noguchi's syphilis experiments, which involved injecting a number of healthy children and adults with the syphilis germ, luetin.
Offers detailed accounts of experiments on both healthy & unhealthy people/discusses patient consent, ethical problems
Editorials
New England Journal of Medicine
Lederer's writing is crisp and clear, her historical documentation is exhaustive, and her social commentary persuasive. This book is an important addition to the growing literature on the history of human experimentation and medical research.Journal of Clinical Research Best Practices
Essential reading for anyone concerned with clinical research public policy and attitudes.— Norman M. Goldfarb