Bioethical considerations, the common good approach and some shortfalls of the Belmont Report

Abstract

The Belmont Report on Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research established ethical principles to shield human subjects in biomedical research from unjustifiable exploitation by researchers. This was a response to the “Tuskegee Study” in the United States, where the rights of participants were grossly violated. Today, researchers and physicians often make use of human beings as subjects in scientific investigations. One of the key issues is that of informed consent. The ethical principles stressed in the Belmont Report have significant implications for the matter of informed consent. Informed consent must be required for any legal research involving human subjects. Regulatory frameworks must ensure that human subjects in bioethical or other research are not exploited either physically or psychologically. The need for effective humanistic ethical guidelines for biomedical research is great, but how does this tie in with the Common Good Approach if at all?