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Article: The fifth commission. (National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research; Ethics Advisory Board)
- Article from:
- The Hastings Center Report
- Article date:
- July 1, 1993
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1993 Hastings Center. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The ability to learn from mistakes is one serviceable definition of intelligence. More often than not in Washington, legislators and bureaucrats seem to stare right through past errors in judgment.
But there are exceptions, and now the U.S. Congress is showing signs of intelligence when it comes to establishing a national commission on biomedical ethics, There have been four attempts to establish such commissions in the past, and for both good and not so good reasons, none of these commissions is in operation today. In an attempt to learn what worked and what didn't, Senators Mark Hatfield (R-Ore.), Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), and Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.) asked ...