Ethical Conduct in Scientific Research Assignment

Ethical Conduct in Scientific Research - Assignment Example In real sense, they were not being given penicillin which was the standard treatment for syphilis. The scientists who carried out the study as Tuskegee continued to examine the subjects and withheld information relating to penicillin from the patients. In addition, the scientists did not allow the participants to access syphilis treatments that were available to the other people in Tuskegee (Reverby, 2009). This resulted to suffering, pain, and even death for the participants. The revelation of the study made the federal government to have a closer look to studies involving human subjects and initiated changes to prevent ethical breaches that happened at Tuskegee. The resultant reforms in clinical research include, firstly, the researcher should notify partakers that their anonymity. This means that they will be informed that their responses will not be discussed with anyone else. Consequently, the privacy and confidentiality of the participants is maintained. Secondly, informed consent. The respondents need to be informed of the aim and nature of the study. Consent is about if a participant decides to participate in the study or not (Shrader-Frechette, 2011). The consent can be obtained directly or indirectly through third-party consent. Informed consent entails capacity which is the person’s capability to acquire as well as retain knowledge, information is where the participant accesses information regarding the study, and voluntariness involves the person willingly participating in the study. They also have the right to withdraw from the study at any time. Finally, harm protection. The researcher needs to ensure that none of the par ticipants is exposed to unwarranted psychological and physical harm (Adil & Shamoo, 2009). In the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, the scientists were engaged in unethical practice since they knowingly failed to inform the participants that penicillin was an effective cure for the