Deadly Deception And Acres Of Skin

Have you ever wondered where a doctor’s method came from? Or so much to even, think who came up with the original idea? America has an interesting medical history, or as I like to call them experiments. Some of those experiments were a positive asset to the history, but others were horrifying. One of those horrifying events would be Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. James H. Jones, the author of “Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment”, covered a book on the historical event. The study was for how the African American male is affected by untreated syphilis. But through the evolvement of the experiment, it became about the neurological aspect. It also depicts the American Government for its untrustworthiness in the health care world.

In todays society, the common consensus about human experimentation is that it is unethical, however, people in the past believed it was necessary to advance scientific discoveries. The Tuskegee syphilis study is a prime example of how scientists in the past disregarded the ethics of human experimentation to enhance scientific research. The study was an experiment where four- hundred to six-hundred uneducated African American men were tricked into being tested. Most of the patients were injected with the disease and left without treatment to discover its effects, while the others were safe being used as controls. This experiment lasted for Forty years and was probably the biggest example of unethical human experimentation in America. Fortunatley, the contrivertial actions taken in the experiment lead future generations to create the law of informed consent where the patient understands what will happen during their treatment. The inspiration for researching this topic was how in “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”, by Rebecca Skloot, Henrietta was used for a scientific study without her consent. In relation to Henrietta, the men in the syphilis study were not aware of what was happening to them and were experimented on without their consent. Overall, the human experimentation in the Tuskegee syphilis study was unethical in many ways.

Initially the participants have been told that they were treated for “bad blood”, but they did not receive any treatment from the experiment (“About,” n.d.; “The Tuskegee,” n.d.).

The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment was a 40-year-old study from 1932 to 1972 in Macon county, Alabama on Africa America men. The purpose of the study was to learn the different side effects of untreated syphilis in Africa Americans; at that time there was no proven treatment for the disease. The experiment was conducted on a total of 600 African American men. Of this group 399, who had syphilis were a part of the experimental group and 201 were control subjects. Most of the men were poor and illiterate and Researchers from the Tuskegee Institute offered these men the deal of their life, which was free medical care, survivors insurance, rides to and from the institute, meals on examination days, and free treatment for minor ailments

For example, the Tuskegee experiment that purposely held syphilis experiments on black men while withholding medications from participants treating them like “guinea pigs”. Another historical event is the eugenics experiment on young African American women through selective breeding and sterilization, just to name a few. She explained that physicians are not culturally sensitive to handle historical event that are prevalent in this mistrust of African American people (Ferrera, 2015), Hence why many African American women do not visit a physician. Another example of patients mistrust was the Deborah lacks story, where her cells were being cultivated by scientist and replicated and sold all over the world without the knowledge of her family. While the scientist reaps the rewards Deborah lack’s family was poor, uneducated and also suffering from illness. These traumatic historical events are enough to doubt the sincerity of physicians specifically if those physicians match the physical descriptions of the oppressor.

The Tuskegee syphilis experiment was an infamous clinical study conducted between 1932-1972 in Macon Country, Alabama by the U.S Public Health Service. The purpose was to study the natural progression of untreated syphilis in rural African American men who thought they were receiving free health care from the U.S government; about four hundred African American men were denied. The doctors that were involved in this study had a shifted mindset; they were called “racist monsters”; “for the most part, doctors and civil servants simply did their jobs. Some merely followed orders, others worked for the glory of science” (Heller) The men that were used for the study got advantage of, especially those

Regardless, the unconsented medical experimentation of African Americans has been active from the colonial times to present day. In his book, Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Experimentation on Black Americans From the Colonial Times to Present, Harriet A. Washington captures the beginning of this abuse to as early as the times of slavery. Malcolm Mills, a journalist wrote a review on this book and comments on how Washington “paints a powerful portrait of the medical establishment's abuse of power by exploiting prevailing racial politics beginning in the era of slavery. When medical transgressions often included painful procedures on men, women, and children who had no legal protection and could not object”. He continues saying how it went through to the 20th century when the dangers of certain procedures and their side effects were kept from test

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study of 1932 studied approximately six hundred twenty-five “disadvantaged rural black men” (Pozgar, 2016) that both had syphilis and did not have syphilis. This study, named "Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male" (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013), was conducted by the Public Health Service from 1932 to 1972, however was only projected to last 6 months (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). The purpose of the study was to show the effects of untreated syphilis. The men involved were led to believe that were receiving treatment for their various conditions but were actually not receiving treatment. The men participating in the study were not informed of the purpose of the study or what treatments they were receiving. The study concluded in 1972 and began many more years of investigation and hearings on behalf of the participants that suffered during the trials.

Skloot discussed the Tuskegee Study and how a research project on hundreds of poor African-American men was conducted without proper informed consent and manipulative bribing. With what happened to the Lacks family, being so close to the “Tuskegee Experiment” era, the introduction of informed consent and federal regulations was making its way into becoming a bigger issue and necessity. Some argue heavily that there were not Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) to hold hospitals and medical research accountable in their work. With ethics and principles absent, hospitals were doing what they were accustomed

Deadly Deception is a documentary about one of the most, if not the most controversial human experimentation studies conducted in America. This film chronicles the Tuskegee experiment which began in 1932 and was carried out within a forty year time span of consistent experimentation. This study’s primary goal was to observe the effects of untreated syphilis on the human body over the course of a year for the sole purpose of eradicating the disease, but when it was discovered that a large proportion of the study’s population had syphilis, the objectives for the study changed. This study took place in Macon County, Alabama with 600 black male participants, 400 of which were infected with syphilis while the other 200 participants occupied the control (without syphilis). At the

The book BAD BLOOD: THE TUSKEGEE SYPHILIS EXPERIMENT by James H. Jones was a very powerful compilation of years of astounding research, numerous interviews, and some very interesting positions on the ethical and moral issues associated with the study of human beings under the Public Health Service (PHS). "The Tuskegee study had nothing to do with treatment … it was a nontherapeutic experiment, aimed at compiling data on the effects of the spontaneous evolution of syphilis in black males" (Jones pg. 2). Jones is very opinionated throughout the book; however, he carefully documents the foundation of those opinions with quotes from letters and medical journals.

Breach of Ethics Provisions in the Tuskegee study shown in the movie, Miss Evers’ Boys]

The book, Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, by James H. Jones, was one of the most influential books in today’s society. The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment study began in 1932 and was terminated in 1972. This book reflects the history of African Americans in the mistrust of the health care system. According to Colin A. Palmer, “James H. Jones disturbing, but enlightening Bad Blood details an appalling instance of scientific deception. This dispassionate book discusses the Tuskegee experiment, when a group of physicians used poor black men as the subjects in a study of the effects of untreated syphilis on the human body”(1982, p. 229). In addition, the author mentioned several indications of discrimination, prejudice, and stereotype toward this population. Also, this book provides multiple incidents of the maltreatment of human beings. The reader is able to identify the incompetence of the helping professions and violation of human rights, ethical issues, and dehumanize African Americans.

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study took place over a time period of almost fifty years. During the investigation, John Heller, Director of the Venereal Disease unit for the PHS was interviewed, one of his comments was; “The men’s status did not warrant ethical debate. They were subjects, not patients; clinical material not people” (Tuskegee University). The way these men were treated and looked upon and

Main ethical violations in clinical research that contribute to the abuse of subjects include paternalism, informed consent, lack of ethical supervision and the avoidance of legislation in relation to the ethics of health care and research. Human rights has been widely violated throughout history as seen in multiple events. As early as the 1930’s, researchers involved in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, withheld information and treatment from a large group of African American men with syphilis. Following this tragic event, Nazi concentration camps were established. German scientists conducted research with the involvement of the prisoners. Disfigurement, disabilities and death were often the results of the Nazi human experimentation. During the creation of the atomic bomb, the United States government sponsored the research of the involvement of subjects being exposed to radiation without their informed consent. In addition, James Watson and Francis Crick obtained their data of x-ray