Self-Experimentation and Its Role in Medical Research

Although experimentation involving human volunteers has attracted intense study, the matter of self-experimentation among medical researchers has received much less attention. Many questions have been answered only in part, or have been left unanswered. How common is this practice? Is it more common among certain nationalities? What have been the predominant medical fields in which self-experimentation has occurred? How dangerous an act has this proved to be? What have been the trends over time? What is the future likely to bring? From the available literature, I identified and analyzed 465 documented instances of this practice, performed over the course of the past 2 centuries. Most instances occurred in the United States. The peak of self-experimentation occurred in the first half of the 20th century Eight deaths were recorded. A number of the investigators enjoyed successful careers, including the receipt of Nobel Prizes. Although self-experimentation by physicians and other biological scientists appears to be in decline, the courage of those involved and the benefits to society cannot be denied. (Tex Heart Inst J 2012;39(1):51-4)