In The Human Subject, Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Julia Shaw investigate the threads connecting modern day medicine to its often brutal origins. With every episode they explore some of that dark history and ask - is our present day knowledge worth the suffering it took to get us here?

This is the story of the more than 600 patients at Vipeholm Hospital in Sweden who, in 1946, were enrolled in a set of unexpectedly dark studies now known as the ‘sugar experiments’.

They were devised and run by the Board of Medicine - without government knowledge or approval - and led to immeasurable pain for all those who took part, all in the name of public health.

Presenters: Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Julia Shaw

An Audio Always production for BBC Radio 4