WIRB-Copernicus Group® (WCG™), one of the world's leading providers of solutions that measurably improve the quality and efficiency of clinical research, today announced that the company will partner with NYU School of Medicine's Division of Bioethics to co-sponsor a webinar celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publication of Dr. Henry K. Beecher's ground-breaking article in the New England Journal of Medicine entitled "Ethics and Clinical Research."
The webinar will feature a presentation from Arthur L. Caplan, PhD, Professor and Director of the Division of Medical Ethics, NYU School of Medicine and WCG Advisory Board member, along withLindsay McNair, MD, MPH, MSBioethics, Chief Medical Officer, WCG. The webinar, entitled "Fifty years of Change: Henry K. Beecher and Protecting Human Subjects," will take place on June 8, 2016, at 3:00p.m. ET/12:00p.m. PT.
In June of 1966, Dr. Beecher published a paper that listed 22 examples of clinical research that raised ethical questions about the conduct of research by physicians at major universities, published in major medical journals, demolishing the widely-held position that concerns about unethical research conduct were relevant only to a small number of corrupt, non-respected researchers.
"Good history transports those studying and practicing bioethics to an earlier time, figuratively putting them in the shoes of their predecessors and teaching them how these past individuals rationalized the choices they made—choices that now seem clearly ethically dubious. Learning how societal values, scientific zeal, ideological beliefs, and the desire for personal achievement influenced these persons reveals how similar factors can and often still remain in play, even in our supposedly more 'enlightened' era," said Dr. Caplan in his impactful article, "Judging the Past: How History Should Inform Bioethics," published in April in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The profound message of Beecher's paper holds significant weight in the medical community's pursuit to protect human subjects, even fifty years later. During this session, our presenters will honor this milestone in our industry by exploring the motivation behind Dr. Beecher's acclaimed publication while also discussing the importance of examining and learning from history to better inform the present-day work we perform as new therapies and techniques are tested and developed through clinical research.
"Protecting the safety of human subjects is central to our mission at WCG," commented WCG Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Donald A. Deieso, PhD. "We are proud to celebrate the anniversary of this important moment in the history of research ethics, and to reflect upon the evolution of the field over the course of fifty years. As the research landscape continues to evolve, so too must our standards of ethics and human subject protections; we are doomed to repeat mistakes of the past if we do not actively work to understand and prevent them."
