Acres of Skin

E553457

Acres of Skin is a nonfiction book by Allen M. Hornblum that exposes unethical medical experiments conducted on inmates at Philadelphia’s Holmesburg Prison in the mid-20th century.

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Acres of Skin canonical 1

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Predicate Object
instanceOf nonfiction book
aimsTo influence debates on research ethics
raise awareness of historical research abuses
author Allen M. Hornblum NERFINISHED
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
criticizes institutional review practices of the period
medical establishment
use of vulnerable populations in research
describes chemical exposure experiments
cosmetic product testing on prisoners
dermatological and pharmaceutical tests on inmates
radiation-related experiments
focusesOn U.S. government–sponsored research
economic exploitation of prisoners
experiments conducted by dermatologist Albert M. Kligman
lack of informed consent
long-term health effects on inmate subjects
pharmaceutical company–sponsored research
use of inmates as test subjects
genre history
investigative journalism
nonfiction
hasImpactOn discussion of U.S. human subjects protections
public understanding of prison experimentation
includes archival documents
interviews with former inmate subjects
photographic evidence of experiments
language English
mainSubject Holmesburg Prison NERFINISHED
dermatological research
medical ethics
medical experiments on prisoners
prisoners' rights
unethical human experimentation
notableFor detailed documentation of Holmesburg Prison experiments
exposing systemic ethical violations in U.S. medical research
portrays Holmesburg Prison as a major site of human experimentation NERFINISHED
relatedTo Belmont Report NERFINISHED
Nuremberg Code NERFINISHED
Tuskegee syphilis study NERFINISHED
setting Holmesburg Prison NERFINISHED
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania NERFINISHED
timePeriodDescribed 1950s
1960s
1970s
mid-20th century
titleOrigin metaphor describing prisoners' skin as a research resource

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Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Holmesburg Prison subjectOf Acres of Skin