MA in History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine and MA in the History of Medicine. (360G-Wellcome-084061_Z_07_Z)

The right to health and medical care is included in the universal declaration of human rights. (Article 25, 1) Throughout history however, many people have been denied these rights. Human experimentation, such as experiments carried out in concentration camps during the Second World War demonstrate a total neglect of basic human rights. In such cases people are viewed upon and treated as less than human, suffering a violation of body and mind. Research into the area of medical experimentation would include: Reasons for medical experimentation; Discoveries / medical breakthroughs in the field of medicine as a result of such experimentation; and Implications of such discoveries. I would be interested to see if there have been any long term medical benefits which can be seen as a result of human torture. Would these have been discovered were it not for the pain endured by the victims? Clarification of the term experimentation is necessary. Medical torture is another term that is often used when describing the experimentation on unwilling human subjects. This aspect of bodies being used involuntarily is also relevant in death. For example, cases in the early 19th century saw victims murdered and their bodies sold to anatomy schools as a profit making exercise. Consider not only medical discoveries as a result of deliberate experimentation but also more indirect 'experimentation' such as the testing of human endurance through slavery.