Tuskegee Syphilis Study

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study was an unethical clinical study conducted between 1932 and 1972 by the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study aimed to observe the natural progression of untreated syphilis in rural African American men in Macon County, Alabama, under the guise of receiving free health care from the government.

Background

The study began in 1932 during the Great Depression, at a time when there were few treatments for syphilis. The USPHS recruited 600 African American men, 399 with syphilis and 201 without, under the pretense of receiving free medical care, meals, and burial insurance. The men were told they were being treated for "bad blood," a local term used to describe several ailments, including syphilis, anemia, and fatigue.

Study Design

The study was originally intended to last six months but continued for 40 years. The men were never informed of their diagnosis, nor were they treated with penicillin after it became the standard treatment for syphilis in 1947. Instead, they were given placebos such as aspirin and mineral supplements.

Ethical Violations

The study is widely regarded as one of the most egregious examples of unethical medical research in U.S. history. The participants were not given informed consent, and the researchers knowingly failed to treat them, even after penicillin became available. The study continued until 1972, when it was exposed by a whistleblower, Peter Buxtun, leading to public outrage and its eventual termination.

Impact and Legacy

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study had a profound impact on medical ethics and led to significant changes in U.S. law and regulation concerning the protection of human subjects in clinical studies. The National Research Act was passed in 1974, leading to the establishment of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research and the creation of the Belmont Report, which outlined ethical principles and guidelines for research involving human subjects.

Apology and Reparations

In 1997, President Bill Clinton formally apologized on behalf of the United States to the survivors of the study and their families. The apology acknowledged the government's role in the study and the harm it caused to the participants and their communities.

Related pages

• Belmont Report
• National Research Act
• Human experimentation in the United States

References

• Jones, James H. (1993). Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. New York: Free Press. ISBN 978-0029166765.
• Reverby, Susan M. (2009). Examining Tuskegee: The Infamous Syphilis Study and Its Legacy. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0807833100.

Gallery

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  Doctor injecting a subject

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  Participants of the study

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  Subjects talking to Nurse Eunice Rivers

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  Doctor injecting a subject with placebo

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  Image related to the study

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  Eugene Dibble

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  Eunice Rivers

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  Oliver Wenger

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  Peter Buxtun

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  Test subjects

• Charlie Pollard

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  Herman Shaw

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  WPA poster about syphilis cure

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  Letter related to the study

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  Autopsy request

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  Draft report 1

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  Draft report 2

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  Table of subjects

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  Termination memo

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• Tuskegee Syphilis Study

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