While conducting the Tuskegee experiment, there were several ethical concerns. Various moral tenets were violated. Among the principles is that of voluntary informed consent. The participants were not informed about the hazardous research to which they were subjected. Regardless of lack of formal education background, they ought to have been informed of the perilous procedures they were to undergo, including the unthinkable psychological stress, painful tap in the spinal cord, and constant body piercing (Ogungbur, 2011) . Another violation is that of truth-telling. The participants ought to have been informed about the health conditions that they had and were being exposed. They were instead lied to and lured with meals, placebos, and free bus rides. The exact nature of the experiment was hidden from them to ensure that they cooperate.
Paternalism is the other element. The researchers decided not to inform participants about the experiment, thus violating their rights to determine what should be done with their bodies. Another critical factor that was infringed pertains to the race where all participants were blacks, which poses the question of whether syphilis is only peculiar to black people (Ogungbur, 2011) . The other element is scientism, where researchers obtained knowledge while knowingly disregarding the ethical requirements.
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Ms. Lack's cells were taken without her consent. Later on, they were propagated and distributed around the world for researchers. The family did not know about the cells and were asked for more blood samples, also without consent. Furthermore, they have not received any benefits from the products derived from Lack’s cells (Kroll, 2013) . Due to the existence of ethical protocols that have been developed, there has been more adherence to ethical standards, especially concerning human experiments. Participants are informed about the research and the possible outcomes before getting their consent. In other practices, animals with similar human behaviors or structures have been used in place of humans. This move, following Lack's story, has brought regulatory changes regarding informed consent during the research (Beskow, 2016) .
References
Beskow, L. M. (2016, March 3). Lessons from HeLa cells: The ethics and policy of biospecimens. Human and Health Services, 17 (1), 1-28. doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.1146%2Fannurev-genom-083115-022536
Kroll, D. (2013, May 24). The Henrietta Lacks genome: Consent, trust, and common decency . Retrieved March 25, 2020, from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkroll/2013/03/24/the-henrietta-lacks-genome-consent-trust-and-common-decency/#4e3374dd2df0
Ogungbur, A. A. (2011, December). The Tuskegee Syphilis Study: Some ethical reflections. Journal of the Philosophical Association of Kenya (PAK), 3 (2), 75-92. Retrieved March 25, 2020
