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This letter is in response to an article that appeared in the April issue of the Archives of Dermatology titled "Ethical Lapses in Dermatologic ‘Research'" by Allen Hornblum.1 The issues that Hornblum refers to in the article are important. However, the matter of the ethics of conducting research on vulnerable populations was settled some 25 years ago.
As Hornblum has acknowledged, in the 1950s and 1960s, the use of willing, compensated prisoners for biomedical research was a commonly accepted practice by this nation's scientists—most of whom were associated with major universities or the federal government. It is now understood and agreed throughout the global scientific community that prisoners—regardless of their consent to participate and/or the receipt of monies for the same—are not appropriate candidates for any biomedical experimentation. Since the use of prisoners for scientific research stopped 25 years ago, the important ethical consideration of "vulnerable population" has become widely accepted and has excluded prisoners from any further consideration as human research subjects.
Today the scientific community—including the University of Pennsylvania—operates within a system of strict rules and regulations concerning the use of human subjects in research. The ethical framework that now governs such research was largely codified by the National Research Act of 1974. A major component of the Act was the creation of institutional review boards. These formally established bodies within universities—consisting of scientists, ethicists, and members of the local community—review all proposed research involving human subjects for compliance with an array of ethical and other considerations.
The University of Pennsylvania has apologized publicly to the former inmates who think they may have sustained long-term harm as a result of the experiments at Holmesburg Prison, Philadelphia, Pa. In addition, a special telephone hotline has been set up for former prisoners to call to schedule free medical examinations with a University of Pennsylvania physician.
Country-Specific Mortality and Growth Failure in Infancy and Yound Children and Association With Material Stature
Use interactive graphics and maps to view and sort country-specific infant and early dhildhood mortality and growth failure data and their association with maternal
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