Perspectives in Biology and Medicine

Henry K. Beecher was a pioneer of research ethics and a prominent whistleblower with regard to ethically problematic studies. Most of his work focused on research in adults, not children, but he did speculate about the implications of his ethical concerns for research in minors. This paper reviews Beecher’s response to Krugman’s studies of hepatitis at the Willowbrook State School and the debate that Beecher’s article stimulated between Ramsey and McCormick. That debate shaped the terms that were used in current federal regulations for research in children. The paper then speculates about whether Beecher would have approved of our current regulatory system.