Tuskegee Study Summary

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 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 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 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 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

The Roaring Twenties, as they were known, were a time of scandal and mayhem in America. From the hilariously obeyed Prohibition to the new roles of women, the twenties were the personification of a rebellious teenager. It comes to no surprise then that one of the most infamous authors of the twenties, F. Scott Fitzgerald, wrote mainly one that rebelliousness. In his short story, The Jelly-bean, Fitzgerald describes the life of one of those very teenagers.

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 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.

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

This paper is going to define oppression, describe an oppressed group and a framework. Oppression is defined as “unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power or a sense of being weighed down in body or mind” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2010) The oppressed population that I am going to describe is uninsured children with a disability. Typically, children obtain health insurance coverage through their parents. If parents lack health insurance, so will their children. This paper will discuss the social problem of the inability of children with a disability to obtain health insurance.

Medical ethics pertains to upholding a moral code when providing healthcare and performing scientific medical research. The Tuskegee study failed to uphold the moral codes.

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

The issues that were involved in the violation of the ethical principles involving human subjects include racism, paternalism, informed consent, truth telling, scientism, and whistle blowing. There were other issues that were involved in this study: double standards, maleficence, and the use of deception in research among others. The issue of racism was seen clearly in this study. Four hundred black persons were infected and two hundred served as a control group. Caucasians were not enrolled in this study. This was a violation of justice because the subjects were not treated

The United States of America’s constitution is said to be a limited government. The constitution has three characteristics that make it a limited government, the characteristics help the people have a controlled government that doesn’t take too much power. The three ways the constitution can be a limited government is if one its written as a social contract, two it is a higher law and three, it protects the rights of its’ citizens.