Germany to probe Nazi-era medical science

Gannon, Megan

doi:10.1126/science.355.6320.13

Cited by 5 publications

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“…It has recently been revealed that during World War II, a number of German psychiatrists murdered at least 200,000 people, mostly children, diagnosed as retarded or mentally ill, and hence of no use to the Nazi war machine (Gannon, 2017). The main director of this vast euthanasia campaign was one Herr Doktor Julius Hallervorden, the wartime director of neuropathology at the prestigious Kaiser Wilhelm Gesellschaft, the German counterpart of the Royal Society of London.…”

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confidence: 99%

Reconceptualizing mental disorders: From symptoms to organs

Bunge

2017

PsyCh Journal

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Most mental pathologies are diagnosed on the sole basis of the symptoms reported by patients, such as "I'm feeling low." The thrust of this paper is the proposal to reconceptualize mental disorders as dysfunctions of brain subsystems. This shift from symptom to organ would bring psychiatry in line with the rest of medicine, and is analogous to the change in status of venereal infections from skin pathologies, such as chancres, to bacterial infections. The proposal in question is part of the reconceptualization of mental processes as brain processes, in line with the materialist conception of the mind as neural. A practical advantage of this conceptual change is that it suggests approaching mental disorders as brain dysfunctions treatable by biological and chemical means, in addition to social measures, such as accommodating mental patients in ordinary hospitals rather than in isolated "madhouses" at the mercy of amateurs or even charlatans. An additional advantage of the "embodiment" of mental diseases is that it suggests reframing some new research projects, such as explaining why the common cold causes mental fogginess, why hypertension can cause irritability, and why nicotine dependence can be even stronger than cocaine addiction. In other words, the present proposal is to complete the so-called "mapping of the mind onto the brain" by including the abnormal mental processes, which used to be treated by shamans at a time when the mind was conceived of as an immaterial entity detachable from the body.

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confidence: 99%

Reconceptualizing mental disorders: From symptoms to organs

Bunge

2017

PsyCh Journal

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The history of the Vienna Protocol on dealing with Holocaust era human remains and its resonance with ethical considerations in African American bioarcheology

Hildebrandt

2024

American Journal of Biological Anthropology

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The Vienna Protocol on How to Deal with Holocaust Era Human Remains describes what to do when possibly Jewish human remains are found. Based on Jewish medical ethics, it responds to the 2014–2017 discoveries of human remains stemming from biomedical contexts of the Nazi period. Among the finding sites were the Dahlem campus of the Free University of Berlin, the Medical University of Strasbourg, and Max Planck Institute archives. The Vienna Protocol is unique among similar recommendations on Nazi era human remains in its representation of the voices of those who suffered violence and were targeted as victims by Nazi persecution. In addition to discussing the ethics of dealing with physical human remains, these recommendations address the use of images (i.e., visual data) from the bodies of victims of Nazi violence. This paper presents the historical background of the Vienna Protocol and its impact. It also offers a first analysis as to why, at the time of the protocol's formulation, its authors were unaware of its resonance with ethical considerations from African American bioarcheology and a new ethical culture in bioanthropology. Potential reasons for this disconnect may include the historic marginalization of the voices of black scholars in anthropology within the wider scientific community. However, more detailed studies are needed to analyze similarities and differences between the histories and continuities of antisemitism and racism in Europe and the U.S.A., and their ties with scientific theories and practices of disciplines that gain knowledge from human remains.

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Medical Ethics in the 70 Years after the Nuremberg Code, 1947 to the Present

Czech

Druml

Weindling

2018

Wien Klin Wochenschr

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Ethics has been an integral part of medicine since ancient times. However, the atrocities committed as part of Nazi medicine necessitated a novel approach, resulting in a framework of modern bioethical standards. Since World War II, we have witnessed a broad movement towards the introduction of normative regulations for medical research. This trend initially started with the Nuremberg Medical Trials and the "Nuremberg Code" of 1947, followed by the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association of 1964, including later modifications and amendments. Furthermore there are relevant recommendations issued by the organs of the Council of Europe and by the World Health Organisation, the UNESCO Declarations and EU legislation, to name only the most important examples. Since the 1970s, the rapid and global development of the life sciences, with its unprecedented possibilities to interfere with basic aspects of human life, for example in reproductive medicine, has led to an even greater necessity to confront bioethical questions worldwide. The HIV pandemic burdening the Global South has required conducting research in different areas of the world and involving especially vulnerable populations. In view of these developments, the main topic of the conference was the influence of Nazi medical crimes, the Nuremberg Medical Trial and the resulting Nuremberg Code on the development of international bioethical norms, including the enduring impact of this legacy on today's medical research. In the 70 years since the promulgation of the Code, the world has changed: Research is based on the principles of exchange and cooperation, researchers are mobile, the internet provides a supporting framework removing national barriers. Although the European situation, with special attention to Austria, was part of the discussion, an important focus of the conference was on the role played by international organisations and their endeavours to establish normative standards for clinical research with a worldwide reach.

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Germany to probe Nazi-era medical science

Abstract: Overlooked brain tissue slides prompt another look at “euthanasia” victims.

Cited by 5 publications

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Reconceptualizing mental disorders: From symptoms to organs

Reconceptualizing mental disorders: From symptoms to organs

The history of the Vienna Protocol on dealing with Holocaust era human remains and its resonance with ethical considerations in African American bioarcheology

Medical Ethics in the 70 Years after the Nuremberg Code, 1947 to the Present

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