Regarding the use of medical data obtained from the experiments…

Question Answered step-by-step Regarding the use of medical data obtained from the experiments… Regarding the use of medical data obtained from the experiments done by the Nazis and Japanese using prisoners as subjects during World War II.  Most of this data was destroyed by the researchers themselves since it would have been evidence against them during War Crimes Trials, but some survived.   For example, the Germans did some extensive research on hypothermia at Dachau, since their pilots who were downed in the North Sea and in the colder oceans were freezing to death before they could be revived, and the Nazi physicians were hoping to devise better methods for reviving them.  Some of this research has survived.  But the question is, should current day researchers make use of this data.  The Nazis used both captured prisoners and concentration camp inmates as subjects, and basically tortured them by keeping them confined in freezing water, some until death, and observing the effects of the water and of various techniques of resuscitation on the victims.  No one nowadays could really take their research subjects as far as the Nazis did, so the data is potentially important.  But it was also obtained in a morally reprehensible manner.Here is another example that raises the same questions.  One of the finest collections of illustrations of human anatomy is known as the Pernkopf Anatomy, after its author Eduard Pernkopf, a member of the Nazi party who spent three years in an Allied Prison Camp after World War II.  Accompanying Pernkopf’s text were illustrations by four artists who were also members of the Nazi party, but their work has been described by some anatomists as “masterpieces of medical paintings,” among the best ever produced, and these illustrations are still used widely by anatomists and others in medical schools.  The problem is that the subjects of the illustrations are rumored to have been victims of the Nazi death camps.  No one knows for sure, but the evidence is pretty strong that this is the case.  So should medical schools continue to use the Pernkopf Anatomy?The position of the U.S. government on these issues after World War II, I suppose, is pretty clearly illustrated by the fact that they hired Shiro Ishii.  What do you think about that decision? Arts & Humanities Philosophy PHIL 312 Share QuestionEmailCopy link Comments (0)