Syphilis Experiment Sociology

The researchers chose black subjects because they, like many whites at the time, believed black people were ‘a notoriously syphilis-soaked race’. (Skloot

The experiment first began in 1932, in a small county within the Macon County of Alabama area. In this are rate of syphilis was up by 35%. Interestingly, the setting of the study was conducted at the Tuskegee Institute, which we know now to be Tuskegee University. The study conducted of 399 men, 201 out of the 399 were used as the control group. The control group contained of those who actually didn’t have the diseases. The study also targeted those who were poor and illiterate. A lot of those patients had the slightest clue to which they were being tested for, only being told they had “bad blood”. The doctors participating in the study thought it would be vital; to not inform

This essay examines the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, wherein for 40 years (1932-1972) hundreds of black men suffering from advanced syphilis were studied but not treated. The 40-year study was controversial for reasons related to ethical standards; primarily because researchers knowingly failed to treat patients appropriately after the 1940s validation of penicillin as an effective cure for the disease they were studying. To explore the role of the racism in the controversial study, this essay analyzes the article written by Allan M. Brandt.

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

In Macon County, Alabama, about 40% of African Americans had syphilis. Syphilis caused by a spirochete bacterium that is contracted sexually. In the 1930’s it had relatively no cures or treatments. Syphilis progresses into three stages, the last of which begins to attack the several organ systems of the individual. The victim may become paralyzed, blind and/or deaf; develop heart problems or a mental illness, or other symptoms (Gray 37-38). They decided that they wanted to compare and contrast how blacks and whites develop the disease and the effects on each race. Years before the study of the Negro was set to begin, a similar study for whites was conducted in Oslo, Norway. This study was a retrospective look into the effects of untreated syphilis in whites. The retrospective study used case histories of those who had syphilis when they died not living patients. The U.S. Public Health Service decided to use African Americans in Macon County in the experiment. Originally titled “The Effects of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male” the experimentations took place at the Tuskegee Institute which is why the study is generally named the Tuskegee Syphilis Study (Jones 93-94). The Rosenwald Fund, a foundation that funded many programs that were used in the betterment of African-Americans began funding this project. After the Stock Market crash of 1929, and the start of the Great Depression, the Rosenwald Fund has to withdraw all the funds that they

In the article Racism and Research: the Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, by Allen M. Brandt, he discusses a few mains point. The main points of the article is Racism and Medical Opinions, the origins of the experiment, how they selected the subjects, and the HEW final report. In the first point, Racism and Medical Opinions, many of the scientist believed that even with all the “education or philanthropy” the black Americans can’t be cured whether it has to do with diseases or crime. The black Americans also had a lot of deficits and were considered imperfection. Doctors say that the black Americans had a “sexual desire” which puts a lot of the whites in danger. They also say

(Tuskegee University) Out of the 600 African American men, the United States Public Health Service refused to treat 399 of the men who were diagnosed with syphilis with late stage. From these men, “perhaps more than 100 had died directly from advanced syphilitics lessons.” (Brandt) From the Tuskegee University, it’s stated that the doctors and researches used the excuse of bad blood in order to get men participating.

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study did not only affect the participants, it also created a path for families to be unknowingly infected with syphilis. As Yoon revealed, “Since 1975, the Government… providing lifetime medical benefits to the 22 wives, 17 children, and 2 grandchildren with syphilis they may have contracted as a direct result of the lack of treatment accorded the men in the study.” Because participants were uninformed that they were infected with syphilis, they innately went on with their daily life, which included sexual intercourse. This is how the horrific disease of syphilis was spread to their significant others and children; however, the participants’ and families’ physical health was not the only aspect of their health affected. Through research, Yoon

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.

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.

The Tuskegee Syphilis experiment was an unethical scientific study funded by the US Public Health Service that was performed on African American men in Macon County, Alabama that took place from 1932- 1972. The purpose of this experiment was to study the progress of untreated syphilis in African American men; a total of “600 black men – 399 with syphilis, 201 who did not have the disease.” (U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee, 2013) The study was conducted under false pretenses, in that the scientist lied to the patients saying they were being treated for “Bad Blood” while being provided a placebo. In 1945 penicillin was discovered to be an adequate treatment for syphilis, and everyone who could get

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.

None of the men knew that the “bad blood” which coursed through their veins was contagious. None understood how the disease was transmitted; no one explained to them that congenital syphilis was passed on from female to fetus. It was an experiment based on deception, a characteristic that it retained for the next forty years. Through a historical analysis of the experiment several questions arise, particularly the issues of the men’s participation in the experiment and the black professionals who witnessed the study. Why did these Black men take part in this study? Why did the Black health professionals not challenge the study? The answers to these questions are interconnected and lies captive in a term Jones calls racial medicine (Jones 15).

The Tuskegee syphilis experiment was an experiment conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service between 1932 and 197. In this experiment, the investigators recruited 399 African American share croppers infected with syphilis. Their purpose was to study the effects of the untreated disease. In 1932 the standard treatments for syphilis were toxic and it was questionable whether or not they actually worked. The goal, at the experiment’s beginning, was to determine if a patient was better off without such toxic treatments. The experimenters also hoped to develop effective methods of treating each stage of syphilis. They also hoped to be able to justify treatment programs for blacks. However, by 1947 penicillin became the new and effective medical

Syphilis is one of the oldest sexually transmitted diseases in the world. The first recording of Syphilis was in Europe in 1495, but there is believed to be earlier cases that weren’t recognized. “The transatlantic origin of syphilis is still controversial as there was evidence of an endemic syphilis in Asia Minor before 1492” (JG, 1990) . There has not been a definitive origin for this disease and there were several different hypotheses on how it came to the United States. There have been 2 main theories proposed. The first was the New World or Columbian theory and the Old World or pre-Columbian theory. The first theory holds that the syphilis endemic started in the part of the world now known as Haiti and was then acquired and carried to Europe by Columbus in the 1400s. The second theory, pre-Columbian theory implies that syphilis began in central Africa and was brought to Europe prior to the voyage by Columbus. Recent studies have shown genetic differences between these organisms. Regardless of where the beginning of syphilis started, by 1495 a widespread syphilis epidemic had spread throughout Europe, and then on to India in 1498 and China in 1505. Since its discovery in Europe there have been many speculations that many famous ranging from political figures, musicians and some literary greats may have had syphilis. Some of those were Adolf Hitler, Ivan the Terrible, Henry VIII, Shakespeare, Napoleon, Abraham Lincoln, Lenin (Vladimir Ulyanov), Friedrich Nietzsche,