Overview
The pursuit of medical advancements often relies on human subject research, but this raises critical questions about participant protection. The Belmont Report (1979) established key principles for ethical research, including respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. However, high-profile cases like the Tuskegee syphilis experiment (1932-1972) and the Stanford prison experiment (1971) have highlighted the darker side of human subject research. As of 2022, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) reported over 250,000 active clinical trials, with many more in the pipeline. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 1 in 5 clinical trials violate participant protection protocols. With the rise of personalized medicine and gene editing technologies like CRISPR (first demonstrated in 2012), the need for robust participant protection measures has never been more pressing. The controversy surrounding participant protection vs medical research is likely to continue, with some arguing that stricter regulations stifle innovation, while others contend that participant safety is paramount.