Unethical human experimentation is human experimentation that violates the principles of medical ethics . Such practices have included denying patients the right to informed consent , using pseudoscientific frameworks such as race science , and torturing people under the guise of research . Around World War II , Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany carried out brutal experiments on prisoners and civilians through groups like Unit 731 or individuals like Josef Mengele ; the Nuremburg Code was developed after the war in response to the Nazi experiments . Countries have carried out brutal experiments on marginalized populations . Examples include American abuses during Project MKUltra and the Tuskegee syphilis experiments , and the mistreatment of indigenous populations in Canada and Australia . The Declaration of Helsinki , developed by the World Medical Association ( WMA ) , is widely regarded as the cornerstone document on human research ethics
Unit 731
Unit 731
Unethical human experimentation