List of medical ethics cases

Some cases have been remarkable for starting broad discussion and for setting precedent in medical ethics.

List of medical ethics cases

Research

Research
case	country	location	year	summary	notes
Henry Cotton's surgical removal of body parts to try to improve mental health	United States	New Jersey	1920s	Controversial psychiatrist Henry Cotton at Trenton State Hospital in New Jersey became convinced that insanity was fundamentally a toxic disorder and he surgically removed body parts to try to improve mental health.
Doctors' Trial	United States		1946	German medical doctors went on criminal trial for Nazi human experimentation, see The Years of Extermination.
Henrietta Lacks	United States	Baltimore	1951	A product derived from a cancer patient's specimen, HeLa is the cornerstone of an industry. Cancerous tissue was taken from her without her consent.
Albert Kligman's dermatology experiments	United States	Philadelphia	1951-1974	Clinical non-therapeutic medical experiments on prison inmates at Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia from 1951 to 1974, conducted under the direction of dermatologist Albert Kligman.
Moore v. Regents of the University of California	United States	California	1976	Researchers commercialize a patient's discarded body parts. The man was not deceived into giving up his rights and researchers did not obtain informed consent. He did not want his donation to generate commercial profit for private entities.
Tuskegee syphilis experiment	United States	Tuskegee, Alabama	1972	A 40-year experiment withholds the standard medical advice from a poor minority population with an easily treatable disease.
Willowbrook State School	United States	Staten Island	1987	A school had been infecting disabled children in experiments for years.
Greenberg v. Miami Children's Hospital Research Institute	United States	Florida	2003	Patients donated tissue samples, which researchers subsequently used in a plan to generate profit.

Physician wishes to act against patient's wishes

Against patient's wishes
case	country	location	year	summary	notes
Betancourt v. Trinitas	United States	New Jersey	2008	A hospital wishes to refuse treatment to someone whom it judges to have no chance of living.
Mordechai Dov Brody	United States	Brooklyn	2008	The parents of a brain-dead boy want to keep his heart beating.
Lantz v. Coleman	United States	Connecticut	2007	Prison officials question whether to force-feed inmates who are on hunger strike.
Tirhas Habtegiris	United States	Texas	2005	The hospital removes life support from an unconscious immigrant from Eritrea against her family's wishes. The family are in a foreign country and unable to travel.
Rom Houben	Belgium		2010	A man seems to be in a persistent vegetative state, and after 23 years a communication test is conducted.
Sun Hudson case	United States	Texas	2004	An infant is removed from life support against his mother's wishes.
Baby K	United States	Virginia	1992	The mother of an anencephalic baby wishes to keep the child on life support perpetually.
Jesse Koochin	United States	Salt Lake City	2004	Parents wish to keep a child on life support.
Spiro Nikolouzos	United States	Texas	2005	A family wishes to keep life support for a man in a persistent vegetative state.
David Vetter	United States	Texas	1984	A boy dies at age 12 after living a lifetime with highly unusual medical care in a sterile environment.
Gillick competence	England		1985	Protests are held over the right of minors to request contraception from their doctor.

Person wishes for assisted suicide

Assisted suicide
case	country	location	year	summary	notes
Betty and George Coumbias	Canada		2007	A couple request the legal right to commit suicide together.
Dax Cowart	United States		1973	A man who suffered severe burns requests the right to die.
Giovanni Nuvoli	Italy		2007	A man in pain requests a legal right to die.
Sue Rodriguez	Canada	Victoria, British Columbia	1991	A woman requests a right to assisted suicide.
Ramón Sampedro	Spain	Galacia	1998	For 29 years a man requests his right to assisted suicide.
Aruna Shanbaug case	India	Karnataka	2011	A court case debates the right to die for a woman in a persistent vegetative state for 37 years.
Piergiorgio Welby	Italy		2006	A patient requests a legal right to die.

Person wishes for euthanasia for another

Euthanasia of another
case	country	location	year	summary	notes
Andrew Bedner	United States	White River Junction, Vermont	2008	A parent is charged with critically harming his child who is on life support. If the child dies, the parent may be charged with murder. Is there a conflict of interest in the parent overseeing the hospital care of his child?
Tony Bland	England	Sheffield	1993	Bland was the first patient in English legal history to be allowed to die by the courts through the withdrawal of life-prolonging treatment.
Carol Carr	United States	Georgia	2002	A mother euthanizes her adult sons to relieve their suffering from Huntington's disease.
Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health	United States	Missouri	1990	The parents of a woman in a persistent vegetative state request the right to remove her life support equipment.
Baby Doe Law	United States	New York	1983	The parents of a child born with horrible birth defects request the right to refuse treatment and keep the child off life support.
Eluana Englaro	Italy	Lecco	1992	Parents receive permission to remove the life support from a woman in a persistent vegative state for 17 years.
June Hartley	United States	California	2009	A sister is charged with euthanizing her brother after he has medical problems.
Jack Kevorkian	United States	Texas	1994	A medical doctor advocates for assisted suicide and the right to die.
Robert Latimer	Canada		1993	A man euthanizes his child who has lived for years in pain.
Karen Ann Quinlan	United States	New Jersey	1976	A 21 year old girl is in a persistent vegetative state. Her parents wish to remove her from artificial respiration.
Terri Schiavo case	United States	Florida	2005	A woman is in a persistent vegetative state. Her husband wishes to remove her life support. Her parents wish her to remain on life support.