Ethics in research with vulnerable human beings in the framework of Bioethics. Knowledge for whom?

Abstract

In this essay we intend to make some brief argumentative considerations about ethics in research with vulnerable human beings. To do this, we will examine the well-known case of Tuskegee (Alabama), which occurred between the years 1932-1972, in which 600 African-American people were inoculated with syphilis without their consent. Then, from a critical position, we will approach the case from three bioethical perspectives. In the first place, we will analyze it from the legal-normative plane, then from the principlism formulated by Tom Beauchamp and James Childress, and finally, from the conceptual approach of "vulnerability", referring to the populations participating in bioethical research. Indeed, we will focus on the considerations that these approaches expressly raise, to carry out a reflective analysis on the necessary ethical aspect, required within all bioethical research with vulnerable people.