Eight Years after Jesse's Death, Are Human Research Subjects Any Safer?

This essay examines whether human research is safer in the eight years following the death of Jesse Gelsinger in a gene therapy trial. The author claims that human research subjects are still at risk for exploitation and harm because of the lack of federal oversight on clinical research in the U.S. This lack of oversight has resulted in the underreporting of adverse events from clinical trials. Paul Gelsinger, Jesse's father, and the Citizens for Responsible Care and Research (CIRCARE) are lobbying for the National Human Subjects Research Act.