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37 J.L. Med. & Ethics 1 (2009)

handle is hein.journals/medeth37 and id is 1 raw text is: THE JOURNAL OF
LAW9 fEDHCHNINB
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VOLUME 37:1 • SPRING 2009
EDITORIAL STAFF
EDITORS-IN-CHIEF
Sandra H. Johnson, J.D., LL.M.
Ana Smith iltis, Ph.D.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Benjamin W. Moulton, J.D.,
M.P.H.
EDITOR
Edward J. Hutchinson
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Courtney J. Me Clellan
THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF
LAW, MEDICINE & ETHICS
CONFERENCE DIRECTOR
Katie Kenney Johnson
MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR
Margo G. Buege
The Journal ofLaw, Medicine & Ethics
is owned and published by
the American Society of Law,
Medicine & Ethics, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed
in the Journal are those of the authors
and do not necessarily represent
the views or opinions of the publisher
or the Journal's editorial staff.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

ne of the first, most noble, and most fundamental impulses
of those in the medical and legal professions is to protect
the vulnerable. Physicians and others in health care, above
all else, wish to heal the sick and protect those at risk. Attorneys and
those in the legal profession, meanwhile, work to ensure that the
law is applied fairly to all, and that justice is served, regardless of
the particular circumstances of the individual.
Despite the admirable goals of these individuals, it is clear that
vulnerable populations have been taken advantage of throughout
history, and that much of this was done under the guise of biomedi-
cal research. Victims of medical research during the Nazi Holo-
caust of the Second World War and the subjects of the infamous
Tuskegee Syphilis Study in the United States are two of the most
well-known examples. Because of this emphasis in the media on
the sins of the past, some people would believe that the problem of
vulnerability has been largely solved. As Guest Editor (and JLME
Co-Editor-in-Chief) Ana Iltis and the authors of this symposium
make clear, however, subjects are still vulnerable in all kinds of
medical research today, even when they participate in studies run by
researchers with the best of intentions. It is the duty of researchers,
lawyers, physicians, and bioethicists, then, to ensure that the vul-
nerable are always, and always will be, protected.
This symposium, Vulnerability in Biomedical Research;' takes a
broad view of what it means to be in danger of exploitation in medi-
cal research. Christine Grady, for instance, examines the position
of those with limited financial resources, and Dan Bustillos looks at
those who have only a limited proficiency in the English language.
Jerry Menikoff looks at what he calls the vulnerability of the very
sick, while Raymond Tait considers the ethics of research on those
who suffer from a great deal of pain. These essays, among others
in the symposium, together form a thoughtful analysis of how the
topic of vulnerability in biomedical research continues to be worthy
of the consideration of scholars from various disciplines, and that
it is one that loses none of its power even after the headlines have
faded and the spotlight has turned its harsh glare elsewhere.
Ted Hutchinson
Editor
JLME

VULNERABILITY IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH * SPRING 2009

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