Discussion – The Clara Cell

Discussion – The Clara Cell

Max Clara (1899–1966), known for the Clara cell, was a German anatomist who used the bodies of Nazi-executed victims for research purposes. His case, from an ethically-neutral perspective, presents a two-sided ethical conflict. On one hand, Max Clara used the bodies of victims executed by the Nazis, which helped overcome the ethical restrictions of using humans for research. Max Clara held the belief that the research he conducted was and would be beneficial to the understanding of the human respiratory system (Winkelmann & Noack, 2010). Arguably, Max Clara’s research has contributed much to the current understanding of how the respiratory system works. This has impacted the understanding of common respiratory diseases and the development of cures for such diseases.

On the other hand, Max Clara’s violated every restriction on the use of human specimens in research. The specimens being from bodies of executed prisoners, the research in its entirety violated the dignity of humanity. The conditions under which the specimens were obtained, noting that the victims were prisoners, raises validity and reliability questions. For instance, is it ethical to use the research findings today based on the perspectives of modern ethical research standards? Additionally, evidence has linked physical and psychologically traumatic experiences to physical and psychological responses and variabilities (Greenblatt Kimron et al., 2019; Lutwak, 2018). Therefore, it can be assumed that the specimens used by Max Clara had a degree of physiological alterations, which questions the validity of Max Clara’s findings.

The prisoners present a vulnerable group. Vulnerable groups are at risk of intentional harm during research due to a lack of protection (González-Duarte et al., 2019). Subjecting Max Clara’s research to the APA Code of Ethics identifies various ethical violations. For instance, the researchers used human specimens subjected to harm. This is a violation of the beneficence principle. Additionally, the victims executed being Nazi prisoners means that they did not consent to using their bodies and lacked any autonomy to make such decisions as well-informed consent on the use of the specimen. Furthermore, Max Clara violated the integrity of the research by using specimens from executed victims without their consent as well as without considering how the execution affected the specimen used in the research.

 References

González-Duarte, A., Zambrano-González, E., Medina-Franco, H., Alberú-Gómez, J., Durand-Carbajal, M., Hinojosa, C. A., Aguilar-Salinas, C. A., & Kaufer-Horwitz, M. (2019). II. The Research Ethics Involving Vulnerable Groups. Revista de Investigación Clínica, 71(4), 217–225.

Greenblatt Kimron, L., Marai, I., Lorber, A., & Cohen, M. (2019). The long-term effects of early-life trauma on psychological, physical and physiological health among the elderly: the study of Holocaust survivors. Aging & Mental Health, 23(10), 1340–1349. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2018.1523880

Lutwak, N. (2018). The Psychology of Health and Illness: The Mental Health and Physiological Effects of Intimate Partner Violence on Women. The Journal of Psychology, 152(6), 373–387. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2018.1447435

Winkelmann, A., & Noack, T. (2010). The Clara cell: a “Third Reich eponym”? The European Respiratory Journal, 36(4), 722–727. https://doi.org/10.1183/09031936.00146609

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Discussion – The Clara Cell

Prompt: Read The Clara Cell: A “Third Reich Eponym”?, a scholarly article chronicling an ethical conflict from World War II.

Identify and describe both sides of the ethical conflict of the case, independent of what you believe is ethical or not. Explain what principles and standards Max Clara would have violated if his research had been subject to the APA Code of Ethics.