Jewish Chronic Hospital Study
In this discussion, you will be assigned one of the following studies from Grove and Gray’s (2023) text:
- Nazi Medical Experiments
- Tuskegee Syphilis Study
- Willowbrook Study
- Jewish Chronic Hospital Study.
Initial Post: Discuss the unethical research practices of the study and the ethical principles violated within the study. In addition to the information provided in your textbook, search and provide one additional resource related to the assigned study. Use in-text citations and provide TWO references (textbook and additional source) using APA format.
Response Post: Respond to THREE of your peers’ initial posts discussing the studies you were not assigned. Do not respond to peers within your assigned study. For example, if you discussed the Nazi Medical Experiments, you will respond to one peer who discussed the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, one peer who discussed the Willowbrook Study, and one peer who discussed the Jewish Chronic Hospital Study. My topic is 300-500 and ,my topic is Jewish Chronic Hospital Study. Jewish Chronic Hospital Study
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What were the unethical research practices of the Jewish Chronic Hospital Study?,
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What ethical principles were violated in this study?,
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What additional scholarly resource provides information about this study?,
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How can unethical practices in this case be analyzed in relation to modern research ethics?,
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What are the lessons for protecting human subjects in future research?
General Answer:
The Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital Study (1963) is a well-documented case of unethical research in which elderly, chronically ill patients at a New York hospital were injected with live cancer cells without their informed consent. The study was conducted by Dr. Chester Southam and his colleagues, who aimed to examine the immune response of debilitated individuals to foreign cancerous cells. Many patients were not told the nature of the injections, and in some cases, consent forms were deliberately omitted to avoid patient refusal.
The study violated several ethical principles later outlined in the Belmont Report (1979), including respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. The lack of informed consent disregarded patient autonomy. The principle of beneficence was compromised because subjects were placed at risk without potential direct benefits. Finally, justice was violated since vulnerable populations—elderly patients with chronic illnesses—were targeted, raising concerns about exploitation.
An additional resource by Moreno (1999) in the American Journal of Public Health notes that the Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital Study, along with the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, influenced the eventual development of stricter U.S. research regulations, such as the requirement for Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) to oversee human subject research. These protections were designed to prevent exploitation and ensure ethical compliance.
This case underscores the importance of safeguarding vulnerable populations in clinical research and ensuring that informed consent remains a cornerstone of ethical practice. Today, strict federal regulations, IRB oversight, and professional codes of ethics aim to prevent the recurrence of such unethical practices. Jewish Chronic Hospital Study