Contested Medicine: Cancer Research and the Military
Zoomicon-zoom-in
Contested Medicine: Cancer Research and the Military

Contested Medicine: Cancer Research and the Military

By
Gerald Kutcher (Author)  

Hardback

Available / dispatched within 1 - 4 weeks

Quantity
In the 1960s, University of Cincinnati radiologist Eugene Saenger infamously conducted human experiments on patients with advanced cancer to examine how total body radiation could treat the disease. But, under contract with the Department of Defense, Saenger also used those same patients as proxies for soldiers to answer questions about combat effectiveness on a nuclear battlefield. Using the Saenger case as a means to reconsider cold war medical trials, "Contested Medicine" examines the inherent tensions at the heart of clinical studies of the time. Emphasizing the deeply intertwined and mutually supportive relationship between cancer therapy with radiation and military medicine, Gerald Kutcher explores post - World War II cancer trials, the efforts of the government to manage clinical ethics, and the important role of military investigations in the development of an effective treatment for childhood leukemia. Whereas most histories of human experimentation judge research such as Saenger's against idealized practices, "Contested Medicine" eschews such an approach and considers why Saenger's peers and later critics had so much difficulty reaching an unambiguous ethical assessment. Kutcher's engaging investigation offers an approach to clinical ethics and research imperatives that lays bare many of the conflicts and tensions of the postwar period.
Gerald Kutcher is Dean's Professor of the History of Medicine at Binghamton University.
  • Contributor: Gerald Kutcher
  • Imprint: University of Chicago Press
  • ISBN13: 9780226465319
  • Number of Pages: 264
  • Packaged Dimensions: 16x24x2mm
  • Packaged Weight: 539
  • Format: Hardback
  • Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
  • Release Date: 2009-05-19
  • Binding: Hardback
  • Biography: Gerald Kutcher is Dean's Professor of the History of Medicine at Binghamton University.

Delivery Options

Home Delivery

Store Delivery

Free Returns

We hope you are delighted with everything you buy from us. However, if you are not, we will refund or replace your order up to 30 days after purchase. Terms and exclusions apply; find out more from our Returns and Refunds Policy.