Name: __________________________________________ Block: __________

Unethical Experiments: Synthesis

Now that you have studied and reviewed unethical experiments on human beings, you are going to complete a
case study on one of the experiments. Your job is to take the role as a member of an ethics committee (a group
of people who assist doctors, hospitals, and patients with difficult ethical decisions) who is determining how
the subjects of an unethical experiment should be compensated. Your case study will examine the impact that
the experiments had, discuss the ethical issues of the experiment, and make a recommendation for how the
parties involved should continue.

STEP 1: Choose an unethical experiment to focus on

 Tuskegee Syphilis Study  Holmesburg Prison Experiment
 Stanley Milgram Experiment  Dr. Eugene Saenger's Radiation Study
 Stanford Prison Experiment  Baltimore Lead Paint Study
 Hepatitis and Willowbrook

STEP 2: Write Your Case Study

Critical Analysis + Outline Ethical Analysis

 What was the goal of the experiment?
 Who were the people involved in the
experiment?
 How did physicians and scientists try to reach
their goal?
 What were the pros and cons of the
experiment?
 What were the ethical issues of the
experiment?
o Were the participants involved already
part of an at-risk population?
o What rights and responsibilities did the
people involved have?
 What Nuremburg Codes were broken and how
were they broken? Be specific!

Final Recommendations Letter from a Test Subject

 What recommendation should the committee
make, and why? Be sure to justify your answer
(from an ethical standpoint).
Determine if the subjects involved in the
experiment deserve compensation and what
that compensation should be.
 Create a character who was a participant or
subject from the unethical experiment.
 In the role of your character, write an open
letter to the doctors and/or scientists who
conducted the experiment discussing how
your life was impacted by the experiment.

Mindset of the Paper

1. Pretend you are actually on an ethics committee – this will allow you to write with authority on the topic!
2. Pretend audience knows nothing about the case. All relevant details must be explained.
3. Although the paper includes “explanation,” your task is to understand the context, to evaluate the evidence, and
then to make a decision concerning the appropriate course of action for the committee.
4. Provide your own opinions; do not regurgitate others’ opinions.
 RUBRIC

4 3 2 1
- Goal + methodology of
the experiment are clearly
and accurately explained.
- The participants in the
Critical Analysis of experiment (subjects +
Experiment experimenters) clearly and
accurately discerned.
- Pros and cons are
explained thoughtfully and
accurately.
- The ethical issues are
clearly and accurately
described.
- Accurate and detailed risk
analysis of the participants.
Ethical Analysis of
- Rights and responsibilities
Experiment clearly discussed.
- Detailed explanation of
what Nuremburg Codes
were broken and how were
they broken.
- There is a strong and
Final
meaningful sense of
Recommendations
character.
What recommendation
should the committee
make, and why? Be sure to
justify your answer (from
an ethical standpoint).
Test Subject Letter Determine if the subjects
involved in the experiment
deserve compensation and
what that compensation
should be.

- Project is characterized by
thoughtfulness, creativity
and detail.
- Time and effort clearly
reflected in the project.
- Exceeds expectations
in understanding the
Creativity + Effort meaning of the task.
Develops the ideas
thoroughly with
textual evidence
and/or details from
the experiment and
the Nuremberg Codes.

Conventions
Technical Clarifications

a. 7-page essay double spaced

b. 11pt font, Times New Roman