Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23237168›Full record

ArticleAmerican journal of public health2013

The best possible intentions testing prophylactic approaches on humans in developing countries.

Ilana Löwy

Abstract readHistorical Article
In one paragraph

Article in American journal of public health, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Ilana LöwyCentre de recherche, médecine, sciences, santé, santé mentale, société (INSERM, CNRS, EHESS, Paris V), Paris, France. lowy@vjf.cnrs.fr

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Debates on human experiments in developing countries focus on ethical principles such as informed consent, accountability, involvement of the concerned communities, and the improvement of local health services. Public health specialists who conducted human experiments in Rio de Janeiro (1902-1905) and in Guatemala (1947-1948) believed, however, that they were acting in the best interests of local populations, were aware of the importance of informed consent, were closely collaborating with local health professionals, and were contributing to the development of local health structures. Nevertheless, their investigations went dramatically wrong. An initial desire to conduct ethically and scientifically sound studies was undermined by pressure to obtain results and to save the researchers' initial investment, the possibility of freely using hospitalized patients as experimental participants, uncritical help from local professional elites, and structural pitfalls of experimenting with severely deprived people. These elements can still be found in trials of preventive methods in the Global South.

Indexed as

Developing CountriesInformed ConsentBiomedical ResearchBrazilFranceGuatemalaHistory, 20th CenturyHuman ExperimentationHumansSexually Transmitted DiseasesUnited StatesUnited States Public Health ServiceYellow Fever

Identifiers

PMID23237168
PMCPMC3558769

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.