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Subjected to Science

Human Experimentation in America before the Second World War

Susan E. Lederer

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The first full-length history of biomedical research with human subjects in the period "before Tuskegee"—from 1890 to 1940

Long before the U.S. government began conducting secret radiation and germ-warfare experiments, and long before the Tuskegee syphilis experiments, medical professionals had introduced—and hotly debated the ethics of—the use of human subjects in medical experiments. In Subjected to Science, Susan Lederer provides the first full-length history of biomedical research with human subjects in the earlier period, from 1890 to 1940.

Lederer offers detailed accounts of experiments...

The first full-length history of biomedical research with human subjects in the period "before Tuskegee"—from 1890 to 1940

Long before the U.S. government began conducting secret radiation and germ-warfare experiments, and long before the Tuskegee syphilis experiments, medical professionals had introduced—and hotly debated the ethics of—the use of human subjects in medical experiments. In Subjected to Science, Susan Lederer provides the first full-length history of biomedical research with human subjects in the earlier period, from 1890 to 1940.

Lederer offers detailed accounts of experiments—benign and otherwise—conducted on both healthy and unhealthy men, women, and children, including the yellow fever experiments (which ultimately became the subject of a Broadway play and Hollywood film), Udo Wile's "dental drill" experiments on insane patients, and Hideyo Noguchi's syphilis experiments, which involved injecting a number of healthy children and adults with the syphilis germ, luetin.

Reviews

Reviews

Lederer's writing is crisp and clear, her historical documentation is exhaustive, and her social commentary persuasive. This book is an important addition to the growing literature on the history of human experimentation and medical research.

Essential reading for anyone concerned with clinical research public policy and attitudes.

Subjected to Science is essential reading for anyone concerned with clinical research public policy and attitudes.

About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
216
ISBN
9780801857096
Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. "The Sacred Cord": Doctors, Patients, and Medical Research
Chapter 2. The Charge of Human Vivisection
Chapter 3. The American Medical

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. "The Sacred Cord": Doctors, Patients, and Medical Research
Chapter 2. The Charge of Human Vivisection
Chapter 3. The American Medical Association and the Defense of Research
Chapter 4. Rules for Research: Human Experimentation and the AMA Code of Ethics
Chapter 5. "Your Dog and Your Baby": The Continuing Campaign Against Human Vivisection
Chapter 6. Heroes and Martyrs: Human Experimentation in an Age of Medical Progress
Epilogue
Appendix
Notes
Bibliographic Essay
Index

Author Bio
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Susan E. Lederer

Susan E. Lederer is associate professor of the humanities at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center of the Pennsylvania State University.