In this discussion, you will be assigned one of the following studies from Grove and Gray’s (2023) text:
- Jewish Chronic Hospital Study.
Initial Post: Discuss the unethical research practices of the study and the ethical principles violated within the study. In addition to the information provided in your textbook, search and provide one additional resource related to the assigned study. Use in-text citations and provide 1 references using APA format.
Unethical Research Practices and Ethical Violations
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Lack of Informed Consent: Twenty-two chronically ill and debilitated patients were injected subcutaneously with live human cancer cells without being informed that the injections contained cancer cells or that this was an experimental procedure unrelated to their treatment. They were merely told it was a “cell suspension” or an immunity “skin test” Elsevier eLibraryProject MUSENeupsy KeyPMC.
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Deception and Omission: The researchers deliberately withheld critical information to avoid causing patient anxiety—not disclosing the nature or purpose of the injections. This misled patients about both the risks and reality of the study Neupsy KeyBioethics ArchiveForbes.
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No Institutional Review or Oversight: The study was never reviewed or approved by the hospital’s research committee, nor were the patients’ primary physicians informed. Such oversight is foundational to ethical research and safeguards participant welfare Elsevier eLibraryPMCProject MUSE.
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Use of Vulnerable Subjects: The participants were chronically ill, elderly, and cognitively or physically debilitated—individuals with diminished ability to give valid consent. That makes the deception even more egregious Elsevier eLibraryPMCNeupsy Key.
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Legal and Professional Sanctions: A Board of Regents inquiry found the researchers guilty of fraud, deceit, and unprofessional conduct. The experiment was halted, and the physicians involved faced disciplinary action PMCProject MUSEWikipedia.
Ethical Principles Violated
| Ethical Principle | Description & Violation in the Study |
|---|---|
| Respect for Persons (Autonomy) | Violated through deception and failure to obtain truly informed, voluntary consent from patients. |
| Beneficence / Non-Maleficence | Breached by putting patients at risk without therapeutic benefit; the injections served no direct clinical purpose. |
| Justice | Exploited a vulnerable population (chronically ill, institutionalized patients) for research without proper safeguards or consent. |
| Scientific Integrity and Oversight | Flouted through lack of institutional review and bypassing ethical oversight mechanisms. |
Additional Resource
A deeper historical and ethical analysis is offered in the archived content of Science (1964), which directly addressed the experiment and prompted broader professional debate:
The Science journal published a detailed report on the controversy, printing the Nuremberg Code and probing whether that Code provided sufficient guidance, spotlighting this case as a primary reason for renewed concern about the ethics of human experimentation—even beyond the hospital’s own legal dispute Bioethics Archive.
Reference (APA)
Grove, S. K., & Gray, J. R. (2023). Understanding Nursing Research: Building an Evidence-Based Practice (8th ed.). Elsevier.
Science. (1964, February). Ethical controversy: The Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital experiment and the Nuremberg Code. Science, 143(551). [This is the additional resource cited.]
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