In the 1950s and 1960s, Federal funding for biomedical research increased dramatically. Along with increased interest and funding, there was heightened public concern about research abuses such as the Tuskegee Study and other reported biomedical abuses. In response to this public outcry, in 1974, Congress passed the National Research Act which established the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. The primary task of the National Commission was to identify the ethical principles that would guide all research involving humans. In 1979, the National Commission wrote the Belmont Report, which serves as the cornerstone of ethical principles upon which Federal regulations for the protection of human research participants are based. The Belmont Report addressed the ethical principles of respect, beneficence and justice and can be found at the following site: http://ohrp.osophs.dhhs.gov/humansubjects/guidance/belmont.htm.
