The development of medicine often means more lives saved. However, in order to reach new discoveries, some scientists forget the basic ethical principles.

It seems that some scientists, in the name of science, have decided that the goal justifies the means. These medical experiments, not only do not contradict the Hippocratic oath, but to a large extent also many moral principles.

In this article I'll present several experiments that are touchy and you may disgusting:

1. Three identical strangers

During the 1960s and 1970s, psychologists Peter Neubauer and Viola Bernard conducted a secret experiment that involved separating the twins immediately after birth and sending them to foster families. The aim of the experiment was to determine how much genetics and upbringing can influence the formation of behavior and personality. The experiment was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health in the United States, and the victims were threesomes, Robert Saffron, Eddie Galand, and David Kelman.

A secret experiment came to light when the three brothers met quite by accident in 1980. Their physiognomies were too similar, which immediately aroused suspicion and confirmed the fact that they were related by blood. However, the terrible consequences of their separation were soon discovered. All three suffered from depression and anxiety at some point in their lives. It is also interesting that when they spoke, they said they had brothers.

The film "Three Identical Strangers" was made about their unusual destiny. Unfortunately, only Robert and David were present at the premieres.

Eddie Galand, after a long struggle with depression, took his own life at the age of 33, leaving behind his wife and daughter.

An interesting fact is that Peter Neubauer and Viola Bernard did not show any pity or shame because of their deep conviction that they did a good thing for the children and gave them a chance to develop their personalities individually.

2. Medical experiments of the Nazis

Some of the most notorious medical experiments of all time were conducted during World War II by Josef Mengele, a member of the SS and a doctor at the Auschwitz camp. Mengele singled out the twins from the trains that brought the camp inmates, in order to further use them for experiments aimed at proving the theory of racial supremacy of the Aryans. Many participants died during the experiment.

In addition to collecting the eyes of his dead "patients," Mengele also used the inmates for experiments involving infectious diseases, chemical weapons, and aviation. A large number of detainees also underwent experimental sterilization. One of the detainees had her breasts surgically removed so that doctors could determine what it looks like when a baby dies of starvation. The "patient" injected her child with a lethal dose of morphine to prevent the baby from suffering.

Some of the doctors who conducted these and similar experiments were prosecuted after World War II, while Mengele fled to Brazil where he died of a heart attack in 1979.

3. Monster study

In 1939, a group of special educators working at the University of Iowa decided to prove the theory that stuttering was part of learned behavior caused by children's fear of public appearance. They wanted to prove their theory with an experiment aimed at causing stuttering in children who lived in a nearby orphanage, by telling the children that they were predisposed to start stuttering in the future.

The scientists sat next to the children and told them to show signs of stuttering and that they should not speak unless they were sure they would speak correctly. The experiment did not cause stuttering, but it did make the once lively children anxious, withdrawn and quiet. Some of the children received approximately one million dollars in compensation when they grew up.

4. The crimes of Burke and Hale

The only corpses that could be used in Britain for anatomical dissection and research until 1830 were those that came as a result of the murder. Because killings were rare at the time, many anatomists came up with the idea of ​​buying corpses from grave robbers. The owner of a boarding house in Edinburgh, William Burke, and his friend decided to go a step further with this business. From 1827 to 1828, these two men drowned dozens of guests and sold their corpses to anatomist Robert Knox. Burke was later hanged for his crimes.

5. Surgical experiments on slaves

The father of modern gynecology, James Marion Sims, gained fame by performing experimental surgical procedures on slaves. To this day, he is considered a controversial person because of the way his slaves are operated on with vesico-vaginal fistulas.

The urination of a woman with fistulas, openings between the genitals and the bladder, was unstoppable and therefore often rejected by the environment, but also by the doctor. Sims performed surgeries without anesthesia, partly because anesthesia was new at the time, but also partly because Sims believed that surgery was not "painful" enough to justify the use of anesthesia.