For the Good of Mankind?
The Shameful History of Human Medical Experimentation
Experiment: A child is deliberately infected with the deadly smallpox disease without his parents’ informed consent. Result: The world’s first vaccine.
Experiment: A slave woman is forced to undergo more than thirty operations without anesthesia. Result: The beginnings of modern gynecology.
Incidents like these paved the way for crucial, lifesaving medical discoveries. But they also harmed and humiliated their test subjects. How do doctors balance the need to test new medicines and procedures with their ethical duty to protect the rights of humans? Take a journey through some of history’s greatest medical advances—and its most horrifying medical atrocities—to discover how human suffering has gone hand in hand with medical advancement.
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978-1-4677-1661-1
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$39.99 |
Reviews
VOYA
“With a sharpened focus on narrative nonfiction in the Common Core, Wittenstein’s book will certainly find its place in the library, aptly integrating itself in both history and science with connections to ethics and the future of research, especially when using the critical analysis questions at the back.” —VOYA
Booklist
“Writing from a mindful, balanced perspective, Wittenstein keeps the essential ethical questions about rights of the individual, the advancement of science, and the evolution of informed consent in clear view.” —Booklist
Kirkus Reviews
“In a dramatic, engrossing narrative, Wittenstein describes many cringe-inducing examples of the ways doctors have exploited the marginalized, powerless and voiceless of society as human guinea pigs over the centuries….A harrowing, often gruesome, exploration of some of the darkest moments in medical history.” —Kirkus Reviews
School Library Journal
“This chilling narrative exposes the history of human medical experimentation, much of which has occurred in the United States….This title is an important addition to public and school libraries.” —School Library Journal