Tuskegee Ethical Dilemmas

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

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

Due to the fact that Henrietta’s cells were the first human cells grown in a lab that did not die after a few cell divisions, they could be used for conducting many experiments. Her cells were considered “immortal”. This was a major breakthrough in medical and biological research. One major breakthrough was the development of a vaccine for polio. To test the vaccine the cells were quickly put into mass production in the first-ever cell production factory. Another enormous breakthrough was the successful cloning of human cells in 1955. Demand for the HeLa cells grew quickly. Since they were put into mass production, Henrietta’s cells have been mailed to scientists around the globe from “research into cancer, AIDS, the effects of radiation and toxic substances, gene mapping, and countless other scientific pursuits.” (Smith, 2002, "Wonder Woman: The Life, Death, and Life After Death of Henrietta Lacks, Unwitting Heroine of Modern Medical Science".) HeLa cells have been used to test human sensitivity to tape, glue, cosmetics, and many other products. Scientists have grown some 20 tons of her cells, and there are almost 11,000 patents involving HeLa cells. (Batts, 2010)

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 study was not an ethically justified research initiative. It did not provide any actionable or real scientific data. It initially was designed to identify how syphilis affects black patients as compared to white patients. While the study did include a control population and study methodology the mere fact that by 1940, penicillin had arrived as a real treatment and this treatment was intentionally led to great harm being inflicted on the study populace. Medical research is driven by providing for the common good and not harming the subject. In this case 23 men died directly from syphilis and over

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks talks about many ethical issues and goes into detail of where exactly Henrietta’s cells have gone after her death. Around 1951, Henrietta was diagnosed with cervical cancer and without informing HeLa, the doctors at John Hopkins took a tissue sample from the cervix. The doctors hoped that the cells would grow and help in scientific discovers. Later on when Henrietta died, the cells became helpful in scientific research such as vaccines and many more medical discovers. If Henrietta had been in charge of the cells and declined the doctors use of them then no discovers would’ve been made and who knows what would’ve happened with certain medical discovers that came out of using HeLa’s cells. Rebecca Skloot’s book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, explores this question and how the family handles the situation when discovered what exactly happened to HeLa’s

The study sample for the Tuskegee Syphilis study was made up of poor African-American males who were told they had bad blood based on a blood test that was given by the Public Health Service (PHS). These men were from a rural area with little education and no previous healthcare. I believe they participated because they were offered free treatment for their illness on a continuous bases,

In 1932, in the area surrounding Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama, the United States Public Health Service (PHS) and the Rosenwald Foundation began a survey and small treatment program for African-Americans with syphilis. Within a few months, the deepening depression, the lack of funds from the foundation, and the large number of untreated cases provied the government’s reseachers with what seemed to be an unprecedented opportunity to study a seemingly almost “natural” experimentation of lantent syphilis in African-American men. What had begun as a “treatment” program thus was converted by the PHS reasearchers, under the imprimatur of the Surgeon General and with knowledge and consent of the

Instead of treating syphilis, the U.S Public Health Service wanted to study the effects of syphilis untreated in black males. The U.S Public Health Service method was to withhold treatment from 400 black males who were poor and uneducated. They also recruited 200 participants who were not infected with syphilis. These males were promised free medical care and free medicine for treatment. The experiment was only supposed to last for six months, but lasted longer. While watching the Deadly Conception , two survivors by the names of Herman Shaw , and Charles Pollard revealed that they were not allowed to quit the study, be allowed help from outside doctors, and did not know exactly they were being treated for. When the U.S Government found a cure for syphilis called penicillin, they withheld this medication and information from the black males. The U.S Government could have cure these men, but chose not to because they had went so long without treatment. Almost half of the black men died, and passed syphilis to their wives and eventually to the babies. Unfortunately, these black people did not question these white doctors and were used as guinea

Several of these men died due to having syphilis and not being treated. “After the study ended, those men who had syphilis, along with their wives and children who had contracted the disease, were given free antibiotics and lifetime medical care” (Fain, 2017, p. 27). Forty years after the study was over, all survivors were offered penicillin and free medical treatment for life from the Public Health Service. The lawsuit that took place after the study, awarded $37,500 to each survivor and $15,000 to the heirs of “deceased survivors.” If this study would have been conducted today, it would have breached several provisions of the Nursing Code of Ethics.

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

In conclusion, was tragic, that there were no protective measures in place during that time, to stop the infection of so many poor Black men for so long. A six-month study turned to become a 40 years that these men were taken advantage of, which jeopardized not only their health, but the health of their significant others and their off springs. Sickness caused these men to be less productive for their families, which would have been different if they were healthy human beings. An apology is good, but not good enough to give back the pain, suffering, anguish and torment that these individuals endured during those years that demonic act were performed on those who were perceived as vulnerable or who had no societal value. It is great that there was a government intervention and now informed consents are needed in order to conduct such research studies. The informed consent would also include an explanation of what the human experiment would entail before the study

Henrietta Lacks died, not knowing that her cells would live forever; leading to a medical revolution and multimillion-dollar industry. Lacks was a black tobacco farmer from southern Virginia, who was diagnosed with cervical cancer at 30 years of age. However unbeknownst to the Lacks family, her medical struggles would lead to the breakthrough of several diseases. These cells formed what’s known today as the HeLa line and remains active today. A doctor at Johns Hopkins Hospital took a piece of her tumor and sold these cells to several scientists across the world without her consent. Although she passed away in 1951, Lacks cells continued to help, by developing the polio vaccine and were fundamental in cloning testable content. Lacks family

I believe the main outcome and conclusion of the Tuskegee experiment was that it is unethical to harm a human being and participants should be allowed treatment when available. Also participants should be informed of the issues and complications the study can produce. It also provided insight of the wrongdoing researchers were doing and caused for a stricter set of regulations to be set. As for which APA ethical guideline would match to this situation I believe the one that would match is standard 10: therapy as it states that patients should be informed about the treatment and the potential harm of the experiment.