Again better late than never tonight I comment on an October 17, 2013 New York Times article entitled "Decades Later, Condemnation for a Skid Row Cancer Study." The author, Gina Kolata, reviews a 1950s and 1960s era prostate cancer study performed by urologist Dr. Perry Hudson. A key issue for the libertarian reader is that this study was funded, in part, by the National Institutes of Health.
The purpose of the study was to attempt to determine if prostate cancer could be diagnosed early and cured. Thus, consenting patients underwent a prostate biopsy. If prostate cancer was discovered, the patient underwent surgery +- estrogen hormonal therapy. The bioethical problems with Dr. Hudson's study are the following: he did not adequately inform the patients of the relevant risks associated with the prostate biopsies and subsequent cancer treatment, he lied to consenting patients about the cure rate for prostate cancer, he treated the patients who were diagnosed with prostate cancer with nonstandard therapy, he did not conduct an appropriate study as no control group was created, and he recruited impaired patients (mentally ill, addicts, etc.) who were unable to give informed consent. So, the relevant physician conducted a grossly unethical study funded by the American State.
A telling anecdote about the study was mentioned in a 1961 book entitled The Bowery Man. The author, Elmer Bendiner, reported that study volunteers at a New York City-run lodging house were not fed until they kept their scheduled appointment with Dr. Hudson to enroll on the study. In other words, State officials starved homeless men until they participated in a clearly fraudulent medical study in which multiple crimes of aggression against their bodies were committed. The LIBERTARIAN BIOETHICS BLOGger is not surprised. You should not be either.
The purpose of the study was to attempt to determine if prostate cancer could be diagnosed early and cured. Thus, consenting patients underwent a prostate biopsy. If prostate cancer was discovered, the patient underwent surgery +- estrogen hormonal therapy. The bioethical problems with Dr. Hudson's study are the following: he did not adequately inform the patients of the relevant risks associated with the prostate biopsies and subsequent cancer treatment, he lied to consenting patients about the cure rate for prostate cancer, he treated the patients who were diagnosed with prostate cancer with nonstandard therapy, he did not conduct an appropriate study as no control group was created, and he recruited impaired patients (mentally ill, addicts, etc.) who were unable to give informed consent. So, the relevant physician conducted a grossly unethical study funded by the American State.
A telling anecdote about the study was mentioned in a 1961 book entitled The Bowery Man. The author, Elmer Bendiner, reported that study volunteers at a New York City-run lodging house were not fed until they kept their scheduled appointment with Dr. Hudson to enroll on the study. In other words, State officials starved homeless men until they participated in a clearly fraudulent medical study in which multiple crimes of aggression against their bodies were committed. The LIBERTARIAN BIOETHICS BLOGger is not surprised. You should not be either.
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