4. Schizophrenia Medication Experiment
Sometimes an experiment with the best intentions can find itself in unethical territory simply by lacking foresight. This was the case with a 1991 study into schizophrenia medication at the University of California, Los Angeles. Experimenters were interested in how schizophrenic patients would cope without medication. Half of the voluntary participants were switched from their regular doses to a placebo. However, the patients and their peers had not been warned of the potential effects. Either that or the experimenters were finishing every other sentence with What could possibly go wrong? and didnt even see the dangers themselves. The participants were told to inform the study leaders if there was a significant return of symptoms, at which point they would be removed from the study and some high intensity medication would be administered to help them recover. However, significant return turned out to be a disastrously subjective term. As a direct result of the experiment, one patient wound up threatening to murder his parents. Worse still was the case of Tony LaMadrid who leapt from a sixth storey classroom after a period of suicidal feelings. Evidently the experimenters got a tragically unexpected answer to their question.
Peter Austin
Peter Austin initially joined WhatCulture as an occasional contributor to our Film, Gaming and Science sections, but made the mistake of telling us that he'd been making videos in his bedroom for over a decade. Since then he's been a vital member of our YouTube team and routinely sets the standard for smart-casual wear in the office.
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