John Beamish Dossetor, (19 July 1925 – 6 April 2020) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

physician and

bioethicist Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, med ...

who is notable for co–coordinating the first

kidney transplant Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantati ...

in Canada and the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

Biography

Born in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, Dossetor attended

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

in Wiltshire before receiving a B.M. and B.Ch. from

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

in 1950. In 1955, he immigrated to Canada to accept a position at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

. From 1960 to 1969, he worked at the Royal Victoria Hospital. In 1994, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

. He was awarded the

125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal The 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal (french: Médaille commémorative du 125e anniversaire de la Confédération du Canada) is a commemorative medal struck by the Royal Canadian Mint to commemorate the 125th anniversary of ...

. Dossetor died in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

on 6 April 2020 at the age of 94.

Medical ethics

In his 2005 book ''Beyond the Hippocratic Oath: A Memoir on the Rise of Modern Medical Ethics'', Dossetor describes his oversight of skin graft experiments in

Igloolik Igloolik ( Inuktitut syllabics: , ''Iglulik'', ) is an Inuit hamlet in Foxe Basin, Qikiqtaaluk Region in Nunavut, northern Canada. Because its location on Igloolik Island is close to Melville Peninsula, it is often mistakenly thought to be on th ...

for the

International Biological Program The International Biological Program (IBP) was an effort between 1964 and 1974 to coordinate large-scale ecological and environmental studies. Organized in the wake of the successful International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957-1958, the Internat ...

in the early 1970s. Dossetor describes his reaction to reading an account of the experiment from one of the test subjects years later, and his disturbed realization with hindsight that the consent process for this research, which had depended on "group consent from community elders" granted via a non-Inuk translator, had been "inadequate in that subjects...did not understand what was going on". He ultimately concludes in the book that his team did not do enough to secure meaningful consent, and expresses his concern that a careful, fully

informed consent Informed consent is a principle in medical ethics and medical law, that a patient must have sufficient information and understanding before making decisions about their medical care. Pertinent information may include risks and benefits of treatme ...

process is "still not considered crucially important even in research today". In 2019, several Inuit from Igloolik spoke out about the skin grafts and other medical experiments conducted on them without consent in the 1960s and 1970s and initiated legal action against the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dossetor, John 1925 births 2020 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Anglophone Quebec people Bioethicists Canadian nephrologists Canadian medical researchers Indian emigrants to Canada Academic staff of McGill University Officers of the Order of Canada People educated at Marlborough College Scientists from Bangalore Academic staff of the University of Alberta