Exploring the Concept of Vulnerability in the Work of the US Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues

Established in 2009, the US Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues (Bioethics Commission) advises the President on complex topics in bioethics that arise from advances in medicine, science and technology. The Bioethics Commission repeatedly addresses certain core ethical issues in its analyses, such as the concept of vulnerability and appropriate protections for potentially vulnerable research participants. The Bioethics Commission has addressed vulnerability in several contexts, including paediatric research, multinational research and neuroscience research. In this article, we summarise the Bioethics Commission’s analyses and recommendations concerning vulnerability and identify some ethical commonalities across contexts. Through its work on the concept of vulnerability, the Bioethics Commission has sought to clarify long-standing ethical dilemmas and move the conversation forward in support of ethical and scientific progress.