Henry K. Beecher, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Henry K. Beecher

American medical academic

Date of Birth: 04-Feb-1904

Place of Birth: Peck, Kansas, United States

Date of Death: 25-Jul-1976

Profession: university teacher, military physician

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Henry Knowles Beecher (February 4, 1904 – July 25, 1976) was a pioneering American anesthesiologist, medical ethicist, and investigator of the placebo effect at Harvard Medical School. Beecher's influential 1966 article on unethical medical experimentation in the New England Journal of Medicine — "Ethics and Clinical Research" — was instrumental in the implementation of federal rules on human experimentation and informed consent.
A 1999 biography—written by Vincent J.
Kopp, M.D.
of UNC Chapel Hill and published in an American Society of Anesthesiologists newsletter—describes Beecher as an influential figure in the development of medical ethics and research techniques, though he has not been without controversy.
The prestigious Beecher Prize, named in honor of Henry K.
Beecher, is awarded annually by Harvard Medical School to a medical student who has produced exceptional work in the field of medical ethics.
The Henry K.
Beecher Award by The Hastings Center was established in 1976 in honour of the famous anesthesiologist, who was also its first recipient.