by Crystal Bustamante

Created on: May 04, 2009   Last Updated: May 06, 2009

ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF USING MEDICAL RESEARCH DATA OBTAINED DURING HOLOCAUST EXPERIMENTS

The question at hand is one that perhaps has been much considered throughout the history of mankind; however, it is one presented to us once again amongst the atrocities of the Holocaust: is it ethical to advance the good of mankind through the suffering of many? In truth, that question has no right or wrong answer. As the study of ethics reveals to us, the answer to that question depends only on perspective; essentially, in what camp you pitch your tent.

In order to understand and examine the various ethical implications of using data from the more than 30 types of non-consensual experiments performed on Jews in Nazi concentration camps, we must first outline the different ethical standpoints that could effect our conclusion; namely, duty-based ethics, outcome-based ethics and the government's social responsibility to its citizens.

The first perspective is that of duty-based ethics ethical standards derived from revealed truths. Duty-based ethics can be divided into three categories based on religious standards, philosophical reasoning and the principle of rights (Jentz & Miller, p.57-58). Looking at the situation from this point-of-view can be complicated because you have to decide which rights carry the greatest weight. If you consider the situation from the standpoint of medical science, one must how many people can be aided by the information contained in those reports versus how many had to suffer to obtain the information. In which case, whether the situation is ethical or not depends on who benefits more. Does one outweigh the other? Which raises other questions: how do we truly know how many will be aided by this information? Without sharing the information and asking questions later, is there a way to know that anyone will benefit from the information in those reports? Furthermore, when we consider how many had to suffer to obtain the information, do we consider only those directly involved or those indirectly involved (e.g. family members, holocaust survivors)?

Another aspect to consider when considering duty-based ethics is to who to we have a greater duty is it to the medical profession, who can use this information to save lives? As one holocaust survivor commented in a study produced by PBS, "perhaps justice would ultimately be served if we were to allow life to emerge from the Nazi murders" (Baruch Cohen). In that case, duty-based ethics lends its self

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