Medical Research

[John Hartwell]

I didn't know what forum to out this in. It is medical, though not "during the war." If a Moderator chooses to move it, I have no objection.
It is also extremely disturbing as to its implications.

In 1837, Dr. Truman Stillman, "late Professor at Yale, President of the Academy of Medicine of New York, Lecturer on Anatomy and Human Physiology, Member of the American Philosophical Society, etc, etc," (in short, an early example of the American scientific and medical elite) settled himself in Charleston, S.C. There he opened his Medical Infirmary, "at 110 Church St., corner of Chalmers St." There he treated, experimented and developed revolutionary new treatments for the prominent illnesses of the day, and introduced a long series of patent medicines. His medicines were widely advertised in Charleston newspapers of the period.

A different kind of advertisement appeared in the October 12, 1838, edition of the Charleston Mercury:

'' TO PLANTERS AND OTHERS.
Wanted, fifty negroes.
Any person, having sick negroes, considered incurable by their respective physicians, and wishing to dispose of them, Dr. S. will pay cash for negroes affected with scrofula, or king's evil, confirmed hypochondriasm, apoplexy, diseases of the liver, kidneys, spleen, stomach and intestines, bladder and its appendages, diarrhoea, dysentery, &c. The highest cash price will be paid, on application as above,
(viz., Medical Infirmary, No. 110 Church street, Charleston.)"
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The Peculiar Institution was a corrupter of all things and all men.

​

 

[Allie]

J. Marion Sims, known as the father of gynecology, was another one who experimented on slaves. Although his experiments would be regarded as incredibly unethical by today's standards, it's worth pointing out that without his experiments, the slaves would have had no chance at all to receive treatment for a permanent, debilitating condition. Sims is scary in several other ways - for example he believed that neonatal tetanus was caused by black people being so naturally stupid their heads formed incorrectly, and he tried to fix the problem by rearranging the skulls of babies with an awl.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Marion_Sims

 

[AndyHall]

The history of medical research is sordid, when it is not downright horrific. Medical experimentation on slaves, prisoners (both PoWs and civilian criminals), inmates of poorhouses, the mentally ill, and the developmentally delayed a not only common, it was the norm. Even with otherwise healthy subjects, it was commonplace to perform experimentation on children in orphanages because no one outside of the institutional administrators was keeping track of them or responsible for them. Well into the 20th century, medical research was invariably done on what we now call "vulnerable populations," often without their knowledge. It was carried out on people who either did not understand the experimental and dangerous nature of what was being done to them, or did not have the means (legal or otherwise) to resist it.

The great game-changer in this regard was World War II and the war crimes investigations and trials that followed, that resulted in a series of international standards and laws (especially in the West) that, one hopes, would prevent the sort of experimentation that occurred in Nazi Germany. Having served for more than a decade on an Institutional Review Board that reviews and authorizes (or not) human subjects research at a medical university, I can tell you that a great deal of thought and concern goes into trying to ensure that participation in research today is done by persons who are fully informed about the research and its risks, that the risks are commensurate with the benefits to be gained, and that the structure for recruitment of volunteers is not coercive. It's tough, but it has to be.

 

[chellers]

Thank you, Andy.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Whoa. Had no idea and should have. I guess. Orphans were not treated well- I mean really, orphans. With all our veneration of Gettysburg the reason the post battle orphanage is not discussed much is what transpired there. With vulnerable populations open for grabs, this horrendous, why -use -lab -rats- when- humans- were -available perspective should not come as a shock- child labor was also the norm. All in all we'd managed to become extraordinarily barbaric.