Exposing unethical human research: the transatlantic correspondence of Beecher and Pappworth.

Abstract

Henry K. Beecher and Maurice H. Pappworth were the 2 most prominent medical whistleblowers in research ethics of the 20th century. Independently, both wrote highly controversial and ultimately influential articles and books. Although their work is now well-known in clinical research circles, their collaboration is not. Pappworth's article "Human Guinea Pigs: A Warning" was published in 1962; in it, he discussed a series of published studies that he considered unethical. Beecher read it and wrote to Pappworth seeking help. The current article reconstructs, from Beecher and Pappworth's correspondence in 1965-1966, an important juncture in the genesis of modern clinical research ethics. Although they shared much in common, they differed radically in the strategies they adopted: Beecher chose to conceal the identities of individuals, whereas Pappworth believed that only by naming and shaming could any exposé act as a deterrent. Their correspondence reveals how the 2 men shared their ideas and their material and provided each other with much-needed support. It also tracks the development of Beecher's shift from a position initially indistinguishable from Pappworth's toward the one he adopted when his seminal article of 1966 was published.