Violation Of Ethical Violations In USPHS Treatment

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 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 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

(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.

Cells that live and multiply forever were harvested and cultured from a black woman named Henrietta Lacks. Many people made a profit off of her cells, and she nor her family knew anything about it. “Black scientists and technicians, many of them women, used cells from a black woman to help save the lives of millions of Americans, most of them white. And they did so on the same campus- and at the very same time- that state officials were conducting the infamous Tuskegee syphilis studies” (Skloot 97). Many citizens are unaware of this dehumanizing act that lasted 40 years; the Tuskegee Syphilis Study has impacted society along with individuals related to the study for over 85 years. The study

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.

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.

In the chapter ‘Under the Shadow of Tuskegee: African Americans and Health Care”, focuses on the relationship between African American and medical community due to The Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Even though the original study was projected to last only 6 months, the study actually last about 40 years. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study took place from 1932 to 1972. Researchers informed the 699 men infected men and 201 uninfected that they were doing testing on “bad blood” (LaVEIST, 2002), a term used to describe illnesses such as anemia, syphilis, and fatigue. The men were promised free meal, burial insurance, and free

America’s public health system is supposed to be a safe environment that provides quality healthcare to all people, but this is not the case in some instances. The healthcare system can be as deadly as our crime ridden streets. What makes our healthcare system dangerous is the white-collar crime that occurs in it. According to the FBI, white collar crime is a “range of frauds committed by business and government professionals…characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust…to secure personal or business advantage” (White Collar Crime, 2017). A type of white collar crime called government crime was committed during the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis experiment. According to the author David Friedrichs, a government crime is any illegal act committed by administrative individuals and agencies (p. 128). According to a Hastings Center Report author named Allan Brandt, the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment of 1932 was started in Alabama by the United States Public Health Service. During the time of this study, racism was rampant in America. The unethical and illegal practices that took place during this study, would cause African Americans to have a distrust for the American healthcare system for generations to come. People also became aware of ethical issues in the health system.

(II) The government knew the participants had syphilis and failed to treat them. (III) The Public Health Service failed to fully disclose to the participants that they had syphilis, that they were participating in the study, and that treatment was available for syphilis. (IV) The Public Health Service led the participants to believe that they were being properly treated for whatever diseases they had, when in fact, they were not being meaningfully treated. (V) The Public Health service failed to obtain the participants’ written consents to be a part of the study. (VI) The study was racially motivated and discriminated against African Americans in that no whites were selected to participate in the study (VII) There were no rules and regulations governing the study.

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.

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 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