The Tuskegee Experiment

When I watch the video about the research on "The Tuskegee Syphilis Study" by the US Public Health Service, I shocked and suprised on what had been done to the black people.The Tuskegee Experiment was a shameful act done by the researcher towards the black people. How can the researcher carry out the experiment without told the blacks about the aim of the experiment. The black africa-american should been told that they were infected with siflis. The researcher also clearly agains the ethical rules of experiment when they denied the right of the black to get the Penicilin for the treatment. There are many innocent people were affected from the experiment especially the women and children. They were infected with syphlis and eventhough the cure

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.

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 Study was an unethical prospective study based on the differences between white and black males that began in the 1930’s. This study involved the mistreatment of black males and their families in an experimental study of the effects of untreated syphilis. With very little knowledge of the study or the disease by participants, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study can be seen as one of the worst forms of injustices in the United States history. Even though one could argue that the study was originally intended to be for good use, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study was immoral and racist because only poor, uneducated black males were used in experiment, the participants were not properly informed of their participation in the

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.

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

There are a multitude of constituents that could be modified to make these unprincipled studies ethical for subjects. The Tuskegee syphilis study was an unscrupulous experiment that illustrated the significance of morality in human experimentations. A noteworthy alteration that would be made is guaranteeing that every participant in experiments are given a full assessment of the dangers that can arise from the experiment. Consent was an element that was fundamentally nonexistent in the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, resulting in the study being expressively immoral. In addition, a momentous ethical and legal issue involved in the Tuskegee study were the counterfeited information given to the subjects and the community. David Smolin, the author of the “Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, Social Change, and the Future

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.

According the to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment was conducted in 1932 by the Public Health, which included 600 black men as their test subjects. Of the 600 men, 399 had syphilis and 201 didn’t (CDC). The men were told that they were being treated for “Bad Blood” and didn’t have any knowledge of being included in a study (CDC). In exchange for their services, researchers offered the men free medical exams, burial insurance, and free meals (CDC). The study was called “ The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male” (CDC).

The only thing the Tuskegee Experiments were successful in was creating a living hell for all participants. The United States government conducted a study spanning from 1932 to 1972, testing the long-term effects of untreated Syphilis in African American males in Tuskegee, Alabama. By 1997, American citizens, after being repeatedly lied to, learned the extent of these experiments and their treatment of African Americans: Failure to disclose the possession of syphilis, false treatment, lack of consent, and the avoidable harm and deaths of participants. The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments were detrimental because they perpetuated institutionalized racism. These government run tests targeted African Americans in impoverished communities, dehumanizing

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).

scientist decided to documented this by finding the pool of infected black men and withholding

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