Pros And Cons Of The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment

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.

The Tuskegee Syphilis experiment (The official name was Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male) began in the 1930’s. It was an experiment on African Americans to study syphilis and how it affected the body and killed its victims done by Tuskegee Institute U.S. Public Health Service researchers. The initial purpose of the Syphilis study “was to record the natural history of syphilis in Blacks” (Tuskegee University, “About the USPHS Syphilis Study,” par. 2). The study was necessary because syphilis was a disease that didn’t yet have an official cure (when the study began in the 30’s). There were 600 men in all; 399 had syphilis and 201 served as a control group for the experiment. The

Tuskegee – The doctors violated this principle by not informing the study subjects of the details of the study itself. The subjects were informed they were going to be treated for “bad blood” (CDC, 2015). At the time “bad blood” could have meant syphilis or it could have meant anemia or fatigue. None of the patients received treatment to cure their illness. Additionally, none were ever informed that they were in fact part of a study to document how syphilis progresses when left untreated. These were autonomous men who had vital information withheld from them while being subjects in a research study.

The Tuskegee syphilis study highlighted the effects of untreated syphilis in African American males by withholding syphilis treatment that was available to these men. In addition, Tuskegee syphilis study demonstrated how the participants’ rights were taken for granted or even minimized in order to obtain information on how the human body was affected by untreated syphilis. This study allows one to view how the ethical rights were violated and allows for guidelines to be established preventing future occurrence.

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.

America’s public health system is supposed to be a safe environment that provides quality healthcare to all people, but this is not the case in some instances. The healthcare system can be as deadly as our crime ridden streets. What makes our healthcare system dangerous is the white-collar crime that occurs in it. According to the FBI, white collar crime is a “range of frauds committed by business and government professionals…characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust…to secure personal or business advantage” (White Collar Crime, 2017). A type of white collar crime called government crime was committed during the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis experiment. According to the author David Friedrichs, a government crime is any illegal act committed by administrative individuals and agencies (p. 128). According to a Hastings Center Report author named Allan Brandt, the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment of 1932 was started in Alabama by the United States Public Health Service. During the time of this study, racism was rampant in America. The unethical and illegal practices that took place during this study, would cause African Americans to have a distrust for the American healthcare system for generations to come. People also became aware of ethical issues in the health system.

Whilst deception played a huge role in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, many are aware that deception compromises the integrity of research study. Malicious violations of human rights have transpired throughout American history titles under the name research. Under those past circumstances, there have been some discoveries that helped propel mankind’s survival and advanced knowledge. These discoveries do not validate the cruelties that unprivileged people like African Americans endured. Overall, it should be mandatory for research studies to be ethical and not undermine the values and dignity of humanity.

Every person or family member who has faced a medical crisis during his or her lifetime has at one point hoped for an immediate cure, a process that would deter any sort of painful or prolonged convalescence. Medical research always has paralleled a cure or treatment. From the beginning of the turn of the 20th century the most unspeakable appalling atrocities against human beings was The Tuskegee Syphilis Study. One of the most horrendous breaches of ethics in The United States history is Tuskegee’s studies and associated research.

Killing over 100 African American men and harming an entire community, not other study in human medicine would have more severe and lasting consequences as The Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Spanning 40 years, it is the longest human experiment in the history of medicine. This study pushed the boundary of medical ethics: exposing a vulnerable community to extensive harm, pushing the limits of one’s trust in medical professionals, enticing recruits through use of social benefits, and stretching the capabilities of study deception. This study would live on to shape public perception of medical bioethics, and create a lasting barrier between African Americans and medical equality. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study opened the door to the profitable exploitation

The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment is also known as the “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male” which began in 1932. This experiment was lead by the U.S Public Health Services and the Tuskegee University in Alabama. I will identify the ethical problems associated with the Tuskegee Experiment. I will also describe how I would improve the experiment for the participants.

It's been about 45 years since the tragic Tuskegee Syphilis study ended. The tuskegee syphilis study consisted of 600 diseased African American men that were poked and prodded for the “good of the African American community,” little did they know that their freedom was slowly being taken away. The government and researchers used these helpless men as experiments without the man's consent. First I will give details about the background of this study, secondly, I will explain both arguments and my position, and finally the impact is has now in society.

In the Tuskegee Study, the main cause of these actions was to record the natural history of syphilis among African Americans. Scientists took six hundred men to be studied and out of those men, three hundred ninety-nine of them were infected with syphilis (Tuskegee University, n.d). Those men were the experimental group and the other two hundred and one were the control subjects’ syphilis (Tuskegee University, n.d). The study took place in Macon County, Alabama. The intentions of choosing those specific subjects were because the individuals were poor and illiterate sharecroppers from the county (Tuskegee University, n.d). People know the study very well because of the lack of ethical consideration towards the African American men. Throughout

I’m bother by how society allowed such experiment to happen, though no entirely surprised It did. Racism has been a known factor of society since the beginning of times and it will continue for generations to come, it will probably be in a more moderated form but will never truly disappeared. The Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study by Allan M. Brandt. Discussed several major points starting by relating disease with race and financial level the so call “bad blood”. Moore implied that syphilis in the black male would be an almost entirely different disease than syphilis in the white male. This give us an idea of the social contrast that society was facing at the time. African Americans lives weren’t of importance for them, they were willing to kill all of the experimental group for the sake the research showing a disconnect between human rights. The research was a total fail giving that fact that it was null because patients weren’t provided with the cure, leaving a miss consistency of results. However, thanks to this horrible stain in Americans medical science now we a have a code of ethics. That makes research like the Case of the Tuskegee

There is speculation that minorities, particularly Blacks, are discouraged from research, because of the dishonesty in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. In this study, medical treatment was withheld from African-American men, who were infected with syphilis.

The Tuskegee study is one of the most useful situations when examining ethical decisions in science. Most useful because of the unethical decisions made and the justifications for them. The study spanned several decades and many decisions throughout can be examined with an ethical approach. The Tuskegee study was focused on patients who had contracted the disease syphilis. Syphilis at the time may have been the perfect enabler of this ethical case. Syphilis has been called “the great imitator” because it can be misdiagnosed as a multitude of other diseases. Coupled with racial targeting of the trial and other factors of the