Experimentation on Prisoners: Persistent Dilemmas in Rights and Regulations

Abstract

The article discusses the federal regulations governing medical experiments on prisoners in the U.S. It provides information about medical experimentation using dioxins on prisoners by Dr. Albert M. Kligman between 1965 and 1966 and Hythian's drug-addiction treatment trials between 2006 and 2008. It notes that the use of different drugs for the Prometa program run by the drug company Hythian was not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatment. Changes in the ethical standards for using prisoners in medical research are tackled on the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report in 2006. Moreover, the report's recommendations includes an oversight streamlining and expanding of prisoner experimentationand that categorical limitations on prisoner experimentation will be replaced.