Edward Jenner's Unethical Experiments

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What makes something unethical and what does it mean? Can it possibly have beneficial outcomes? Do all bad actions have bad outcomes? These are questions a child might ask but it’s also a question that all professional ask each other in relation to the unethical experiments that have crowded our history. Unethical experiments have been widely debated by medical societies for as long as it’s existed. The strain between defining what is right and what is wrong and what to do with something wrong that benefits what is right. Many medical journals and statements have been erased or simply not published because of the controversy surrounding the experiments stated. However, should a life saving outcome or beneficial research simply be denied because …show more content…

Jenner had begun his research in attempts to find a cure, or a way to prevent the disease, of smallpox. Edward Jenner noticed that those who were infected with cowpox did not become infected with smallpox. In order to test this theory, he began to inject healthy children with a strand of cowpox. He even went so far as to inject his own, 11-month, son to prove his theory. After he provided the evidence and data towards his theory he was bombarded with questions of morality. However, the benefits of his experiments outweighed the lack of ethics performed in his …show more content…

A group of people were selected to administer a series of shocks to a person behind a glass window. If the person answered incorrectly the authoritative figure would direct the person to administer a shock that increased in voltage every time. It was revealed that three-fourths of the group were obedient to the authoritative figure even though they could see the amount of pain they were causing them. The group was more inclined to follow directions if they knew the figure would take all responsibility for any harm caused to the person behind the glass. Many people questioned the morality of the experiment as it might have caused psychological damage to the group even after revealing it was an

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