Belmont Revisited : Ethical Principles for Research with Human Subjects

by Childress, James F.

• ISBN13: 9781589010628
• ISBN10: 1589010620
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-11-30
• Publisher: Georgetown Univ Pr

Summary

Research with human subjects has long been controversial because of the conflicts that often arise between promoting scientific knowledge and protecting the rights and welfare of subjects. Twenty-five years ago the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research addressed these conflicts. The result was the Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidance for Research Involving Human Subjects, a report that identified foundational principles for ethical research with human subjects: respect for persons, beneficence, and justice.Since the publication of Belmont, these three principles have greatly influenced discussions of research with human subjects. While they are often regarded as the single-most influential set of guidelines for biomedical research and practice in the United States (and other parts of the world), not everyone agrees that they provide adequate guidance. Belmont Revisited: Ethical Principles for Research with Human Subjects brings together a stellar group of scholars in bioethics to revisit the findings of that original report. Their responses constitute a broad overview of the development of the Belmont Report and the extent of its influence, especially on governmental commissions, as well as an assessment of its virtues and shortcomings. Belmont Revisited looks back to reexamine the creation and influence of the Belmont Report, and also looks forward to the future of research?with a strong call to rethink how institutions and investigators can conduct research more ethically.

Table of Contents

Introduction	vii
PART I: BACKGROUND AND ORIGINS OF THE BELMONT REPORT
1 On the Origins and Future of the Belmont Report	3	(9)
Albert R. Jonsen
2 The Origins and Evolution of the Belmont Report	12	(15)
Tom L. Beauchamp
PART II: THE BELMONT PRINCIPLES: INFLUENCE AND APPLICATION	27	(70)
3 The Dog in the Night-Time: Or, the Curious Relationship of the Belmont Report and the President's Commission	29	(12)
Alexander M. Capron
4 Beyond Belmont: Trust, Openness, and the Work of the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments	41	(14)
Ruth R. Faden, Anna C. Mastroianni, and Jeffrey P. Kahn
5 Relating to History: The Influence of the National Commission and Its Belmont Report on the National Bioethics Advisory Commission	55	(22)
Harold T. Shapiro and Eric M. Meslin
6 The Principles of the Belmont Report: How Have Respect for Persons, Beneficence, and Justice Been Applied in Clinical Medicine?	77	(20)
Eric J. Cassell
PART III: THE BELMONT PRINCIPLES: POSSIBILITIES, LIMITATIONS, AND UNRESOLVED QUESTIONS	97	(147)
7 We Sure Are Older But Are We Wiser?	99	(12)
Karen Lebacqz
8 Toward a More Robust Autonomy: Revising the Belmont Report	111	(15)
Larry R. Churchill
9 The National Commission's Ethical Principles, With Special Attention to Beneficence	126	(10)
Robert J. Levine
10 Justice beyond Belmont	136	(12)
Patricia A. King
11 Belmont Revisited through a Feminist Lens	148	(17)
Susan Sherwin
12 Protecting Communities in Research: From a New Principle to Rational Protections	165	(19)
Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Charles Weijer
13 Ranking, Balancing, or Simultaneity: Resolving Conflicts among the Belmont Principles	184	(44)
Robert M. Veatch
14 Specifying, Balancing, and Interpreting Bioethical Principles zos
Henry S. Richardson
15 Max Weber Meets the Belmont Report: Toward a Sociological Interpretation of Principlism	228	(16)
John H. Evans
Epilogue: Looking Back to Look Forward	244	(9)
James F. Childress
Appendix: The Belmont Report	253	(13)
Contributors	266	(3)
Index	269