Willowbrook Study Pros And Cons

The Willowbrook Study took place at the Willowbrook State School on Staten Island in New York City from 1963 to 1966. This institution was supported by the state, and was for children who suffered from intellectual disabilities. The School was grossly overpopulated in the 60’s. This proved for lackluster living conditions for the patients. The living arrangements were so dirty and grimy that at one point they were even compared to that of a zoo. Remember this facility was not only for children but children with extreme mental disadvantages. I think every effort should have been taken to keep the living areas nicer even than would be expected for children without a mental disability. The specific study involved a group of children who suffered from mental retardation. The horrific story is that the children were infected with the gruesome hepatitis virus. The children were infected in a variety of ways, one of the more disturbing being that they were fed the feces of others who were already

infected. Another form of deliberate infection was that children were directly infected through injection with the hepatitis virus.

The researchers in this case claimed that these children would more than likely become infected with the virus even if the patients were not deliberately infected.

This is no excuse for the excusing this major ethical violation. Many of these children had no say in whether or no they were in the program. They simply did not possess the brain capacity. Also, parents were pressured into enrolling their children into this program through a type of blackmail. The officials of the School stated that some children would not be admitted if they were not enrolled in the hepatitis studies. I believe they were able to get away with this because the school was so overpopulated they could cover up the real reason for not admitting children. This cynical behavior is another ethical violation. It is ethically wrong for the Willowbrook officials to corner the parents with a decision of trying to get their child the help he needs or letting him be a guinea pig in a twisted research

project.

To avoid the ethical violations mentioned above, the officials of the Willowbrook State School would have needed to done many things differently. First, there could be no research done on any child (one that had hepatitis or not) without the consent from the responsible guardian. After proper consent, only then could the research proceed. This research would have to be explicitly detailed in the paperwork and understanding of the consenting guardian. Any deviations from these guide lines could be considered as an ethical violation. In addition to this, the conditions of the research would need to be much more humane. If consent from guardians was given to infect these children it should be done in the most efficient and humane way possible. Absolutely not through the feed of feces of infected children to uninfected ones…. Also, it would be important for the cleanliness of the whole facility to be improved. So that the research could be done in a safer and more efficient manner.