Untreated Syphilis

Reginald Hollinshed October 14th, 2017 Bad Blood: The Summary 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

The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment 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

The Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study | | 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 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

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 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.

Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment by James H. Jones Introduction 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

For over forty years a study conducted on 600 African American at the Tuskegee Institute in Macon County, Alabama, examined the outcome of syphilis in African Americans. These participants were uneducated and destitute, so when they were offered anything free, they did not see the harm. Of the group of 600 men, 399 who had syphilis were a part of the experimental group, and 201 were control subjects. (About Us, (n.d.)) What is the ethical dilemma in this study of syphilis? The researchers picked illiterate subjects who did not understand they had not agreed to informed consent. All subjects should be informed of the dangers of syphilis such as it can lead to a variety of painful, long-lasting and fatal symptoms, such as infection in the nerve-system, or heart difficulties. To examine the individual risk and lethal development of the disease, the researchers deprived

1. As each of you proceed in your careers, you will be faced with opportunities to read, evaluate and perform research. Read the USPHS Syphilis Study and pages 39-41 in Module 3. Describe what happened in the USPHS Syphilis study. What were the violations of human rights and ethics?

Within a fourteen-year period, two studies in different parts of the world emerged that hoped to study the disease of syphilis. Here in the United States, Tuskegee, Alabama emerged as the starting point of one of these studies, in which Public Health Services’ physicians and officers studied the deadly effects of Syphilis on African American Males. When penicillin emerged in 1943 as the main treatment, this study denied their African American test subjects the opportunity to be treated, but rather continued their study, hoping to advance the current knowledge on the effects that syphilis has on a person if it goes untreated. Farther south, within the country of Guatemala, Public Health Services hoped again to study syphilis, but with a different focus. Rather than study the effects of untreated syphilis, Public Health Services worked to study various other chemicals that could be used to prevent and contain the spread syphilis, in addition studying certain doses of penicillin and their ability to treat the disease. To do this, Public Health officials and physicians purposefully infected various prisoners, people in mental hospitals, soldiers, and prostitutes. When looking at both of these studies, various ethical issues and dilemmas are present. By using two popular ethical schools of thought: utilitarianism and Kantianism, the ethical justification or justification of these studies will be explored. When discussing both the Guatemala and Tuskegee Syphilis studies,

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study caused a tragedy for many people. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study has proven to go against ethical standards of clinical research and has led to a greater understanding of ethical standards and informed consent. Anyone involved in a research study should have knowledge of the

Running head: THE TUSKEGEE SYPHILIS STUDY The Tuskegee Syphilis Study Thomas Shaw Grand Canyon University PHL 305 7/25/2010 Introduction The Tuskegee Syphilis Study was developed to study the affects of Syphilis on adult black males. The intention of the study was to find ways to improve the quality of health in African Americans in the southern states.

Very relevant to this study is compensation/incentives. The participants were very poor and received the incentive of $25 to participate in the study. Burial insurance was provided to the participants, as well as free health care for the supposed illness of “bad blood.” Physical distress is also very relevant. The researchers provided toxic treatment to the participants. The researchers performed spinal taps that were very painful to endure. The lack of proper treatment of syphilis led to the advancement of the disease, which was the cause of death for some of the participants. Other sexual partners contracted syphilis and children were born with congenital syphilis, so they also incurred physical distress. A third relevant ethical dimension