Research related to the human subject has been very important since it has helped to solve human problems in one way or the other. This type of research has focused mostly on the preparation of medicines that are important in curing diseases that are perceived to be fatal. Research has become inevitable in the society since it is important in innovating new products that can be used to cure diseases that are difficult to treat. This is the major reason why higher learning institutions have incorporated research institutions to give proper skills to the potential researchers. However, I think that research is not an easy thing. This can be explained by the fact that most of the research done by scientists usually takes more than one year. More so, a lot of time is taken to arrive at the final product.
New developments in the economic and social environment have been induced by the emergence of research in the medical sector and other sectors that are related to science. These have led to the need to have regulations and procedures that will prevent any ambiguity in the research process. I agree with the argument that nothing is perfect in the minds of people. This means that these procedures are not necessarily perfect, but are the best available alternatives. I however think that they have helped a lot in the research sector since they have helped to create a protocol for any research undertaken. The research procedures also help in preventing risk involved by the participants of the research that is being undertaken.
Despite the fact that the regulations have helped in providing protocol and consistency in research, I personally think that they should be slightly changed. The reason for this argument is that research should involve flow of information from the person conducting the research to the person acting as a specimen. According to me, this will help in preventing uncertainty on the part of the human subject. This can be seen in what occurred in the United States of America during the Tuskegee experiment. Regulations should ensure that researchers seek permission from regulatory bodies before they undertake any research. I believe this will prevent other researchers from copying the idea of the current researchers. However, the regulations regarding prevention of abuse in research should not be changed.
In the United States of America, Syphilis is a disease that was perceived to be fatal. This had also been noted by the major magazines like the
Washington Evening Star. According to this magazine, the Tuskegee experiment was conducted by the Tuskegee Institute in connection with the Public Health Service of the United States of America. This research was not made public, thus people did not know what was taking place. The research became public after forty years of studying the disease. This raised many issues regarding the research undertaken in the United States of America.
Within the period of forty years of study by the Tuskegee Institute, there were many people that died of syphilis. The blame game started after the Tuskegee experiment had been made public. Many people argued that the Tuskegee Institute was responsible for the loss of lives during the four decades of research. Within the forty years of research, there was a medicine that was believed to be a cure for Syphilis. The Tuskegee Institute however disregarded this medicine and this made many sick people not to take it. Personally, I think there is need for research regulations and procedures. If there were regulations at that time, people would have continued using Penicillin, which was regarded as a cure for syphilis. This is simply because it was the best available option at that time. At the same time, the Tuskegee Intuition could still continue with their research until the end products were realized. According to me, research regulations should ensure that the currently used medicine is not tampered with until the final products of research are realized.
The need for research regulations can be realized if we look at how the people involved in the Tuskegee experiment were treated. People were not told whether they were used as specimen for conducting a research on syphilis. They were simply told that they were being treated for bad blood. Institutional Review Boards should formulate regulations that ensure that all research institutions make people aware of what is being researched. In my opinion, this will help in preventing the risk of death of the participants of a research. More so, Institutional Review Boards should harmonize the rules regarding research to ensure that there is consistency in all research institutions on the way research is conducted. However, I think the researchers should be given the freedom to gain access to data relating to their field of study.
The Tuskegee Institute and the Public Health Service of the United States of America were accused of abuse on humanities. The reason for this is that there were many people who died as a result of the Tuskegee Institute disregarding the use of penicillin for curing syphilis. These scientists wanted to collect information on how people died as a result of the disease. This was done at the expense of the lives of many people. In my opinion, there should be regulations that ensure the safety of all human beings participating in research in order to prevent abuse. In addition to this, Institution Regulation Board should ensure that research undertaken should add value to human beings participating in the research. This should act as a base to provide benefits to the society at large. I believe there should also be public opinions regarding the research that will help generate better ideas for innovating quality end products in research. This will help to ensure that the research is helpful to the members of the society.
In conclusion, regulations and procedures in research help in ensuring that there is minimal loss of lives. Based on the experience in the Tuskegee experiment, many researchers are likely to be very cautious as they carry out their studies. I strongly think that the existence of the Institution Review Board and the Department of Health and Human Services has created a positive impact on research. Presently, some of the research procedures and regulations are reasonable. However, the research regulations should be reviewed to ensure that they are not biased. In my opinion, a review of the procedures will also ensure that past events like infection of syphilis and death in Tuskegee experiment will not occur. This will also ensure that there is efficiency and protection of human beings in the research process.
References
http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/jul/tuskegee/.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_experiment.
