Hidden histories of the dead : disputed bodies in modern British medical research / Elizabeth T. Hurren.

"Preface A Consignment for the Cul-de-Sac of History? At the heart of modern conceptions of biomedicine sits a core narrative of 'progress', one in which profound scientific breakthroughs from the nineteenth century onwards have cumulatively and fundamentally transformed the individual life course for many patients in the global community. Whilst there remain healthcare inequalities around the world, science has endeavoured to make medical breakthroughs for everybody. Thus for many commentators it has been vital to focus on the ends - the preservation or extension of life and the reduction of human suffering emerging out of new therapeutic regimes - and to accept that the accumulation of past practice cannot be judged against the yardstick of the most modern ethical values. Indeed, scientists, doctors and others in the medical field have consistently tried hard to follow ethical practices even when the law was loose or unfocussed and public opinion was supportive of an ends rather than means approach. Unsystematic instances of poor practice in research and clinical engagement thus had (and have) less contemporary meaning than larger systemic questions of social and political inequalities for the living, related abuses of power by states and corporate entities in the global economy, and the suffering wrought by cancer, degenerative conditions and antibiotic resistant diseases. Perhaps unsurprisingly given how many patients were healed, there has been a tendency in recent laboratory studies of the history of forensic science, pathology and transplant surgery, to clean up, smooth over, and thus harmonise the medical past"-- Provided by publisher.