A little while back, I was just reading this thought-provoking article in Wikipedia, about unethical human experiementation in the United States. And I was just wondering, is it possible this could be going on to this day?
Think about it. They were capable of it once. So why not now? Furthermore, it is the last thing some people would expect now. So really, the present time would be ideal for this reason, wouldn’t it?
I know the US is already doing unethical things, like supporting dictators in other countries, like Henry Kissinger’s support of Pinochet in Chile. And Pres. Carter’s support of the Shah of Iran. To know how to manipulate people, it certainly would take a good knowledge of things that could be revealed in psychological experiments, wouldn’t it?
I couldn’t find anything supporting (or denying) this on the internet. But if anyone has anything, please provide a link.
The cynical side of me says we are smart enough now to leave the dirty work to private companies, and to seek out victims in the third world. Indeed, there are some very unethical drug trials being carried out in developing countries by large corporations.
That said, a lot of these experiments were Cold War madness. There was very little we wouldn’t do during that period. Without that kind of mentality, it’s hardly worth the risk of getting caught. Maybe one day the War on Terror will reach the level where these kinds of violations happen, but we aren’t there yet.
Another factor is that these days we have solidified codes of ethics and made them a part of scientific training. Rogue scientists are much more aware of when they are crossing lines. We have systems in place now that were not there before. And really, with increased awareness and compassion for different kinds of people (e.g. we now consider the rights of disabled children worth protecting, rather than seeing them as a drain on society) and the ability of the modern media to publicise stories…it’s almost certainly not worth risking. People lose their jobs over even minor violations- why mess with the big guns?
This is correct. There are a lot of regulations and hoops to jump through now with human experimentation, and the regulations are especially strict when experimenting on prisoners, the elderly, and the disabled. It would require either systematic corruption or a massive bureaucratic failure for something to slip through the cracks. While it’s possible for there to be a rogue unethical experiment, it’s rare and unlikely and would have deep consequences if discovered.
It’s possible, but officially, not likely. Every university has extensive review procedure for any experiments - even surveys - involving people. If the CIA is doing something, though, probably no checks, nor for unscrupulous companies.
Because the consequences of being caught far outweigh any benefits that could be gained. It’s simple, cold cost to benefit. As Chronos said, in the past they didn’t even bother to try and keep it secret since it wasn’t thought to be bad…no one really cared, it was just the price of doing business. Today, enough people care to make it not worthwhile.
