Chapter  7: Human Experimentation

Section 5. Case Study

The Least of My Brothers:  The Tuskegee Medical Experiment

Studies to discover the incidence of syphilis among poor black men in the south during the 1920's and 1930's turned into a study, The Tuskegee Experiment, to study the effects of syphilis over time. Approximately 400 men were chosen for the study and received regular medical checkups to determine the progress of the diseases. The men were told that they had "bad blood" and were being treated for it. The men never received any actual treatment for the disease even after the discovery of a cure (penicillin).

Funded by the National Institutes of Health (Grant Number 1 T15 AI07601)

The Least of My Brothers is an on-line module or short course in the ethics of research with human subjects. Content for the module was developed by the Poynter Center for the Study of Ethics and American Institutions at Indiana University-Bloomington (Kenneth D. Pimple, Project Director; Julia A. Pedroni, Co-Director; Victoria Berdon, Graduate Assistant) in collaboration with WisdomTools, Inc., which also provided the technical realization of the course.

http://poynter.indiana.edu/sas/lb/

photo of Taliaferro Clark
Taliaferro Clark, Head of the Public Health Service
at the beginning of the Tuskegee Experiment

General Background

Documents from the Tuskegee Study

Other Historical Records

The Legacy of the Tuskegee Study

The Impact on Healthcare Today

Hearings on the Nomination of Dr. Henry W. Foster as Surgeon General

  • U. S. Surgeon General by Victor Beattie. Henry Foster's response to charges he was aware of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment three years before it was terminated, and did nothing about it. From Intac Access Corporation; original source: Voice of America
  • Clinton Trips Over New Foster Corpse by Mathew Lu, from IlLUminations No. 12.

Report of the Syphilis Study Legacy Committee, and the Presidential Apology

Background and Documents

Editorials on the Apology

Films, Documentaries, and Interviews

Teaching Materials

Discussion

Bibliography

 

Your NAME: Siu Hei Szeto

CASE TITLE: Tuskegee Medical Experiment

DESCRIPTION of the case by student: Studies to discover the incidence of syphilis among poor black men in the south during the 1920's and 1930's turned into a study, The Tuskegee Experiment, to study the effects of syphilis over time. Approximately 400 men were chosen for the study and received regular medical checkups to determine the progress of the diseases. The men were told that they had "bad blood" and were being treated for it. The men never received any actual treatment for the disease even after the discovery of a cure (penicillin).

url's for the Articles Describing case:

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmtuskegee1.html

http://www.africana.com/Utilities/Content.html?&../cgi-bin/banner.pl?banner=Education&../articles/tt_423.htm

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/may97/tuskegee_5-16.html

http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~lyonsm/tuskegeenew.html

http://www.msu.edu/user/stocks/prof/ethics/tuskg.html

url's for Articles with Ethical Position: Philosophers, Theologians, Lawyers, Medical Doctors

Provides a basic introduction to bioethics -- the issues raised by the Tuskegee Experiment, federal policies, international intiatives, statutes, etc. http://www.wws.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/byteserv.prl/~ota/disk1/1993/9312/9312.PDF

Should ethics committees contribute to, or become, compliance programs? http://www.managedcaremag.com/archives/9808/9808.ethics.shtml

This annotated bibliography addresses the issues that arise in the area of Medical Experimentation on humans. http://academic.udayton.edu/health/05bioethics/01TaylorS.htm

This is a summary of the conference held about the topic. http://www.chrcrm.org/doc_rebconf_kinsella.htm

 

Megan Brons

CASE: The Tuskegee Syphilis Study

Description: 600 low-income African-American males, 400 infected with syphilis are monitored for 40 years. Even though a proven cure (penicillin) became available in the 1950s, the study continues until 1972 with participants denied treatment. Perhaps as many as 100 died of syphilis during the study.

url?s for articles describing the case:

1) http://members.home.com/jtstocks/prof/ethics/tuskg.html

2) http://showme.Missouri.edu/`socbrent/Tuskegee.htm

3) http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/335/11/815

4) http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/od/tuskegee/time.htm

url?s for articles with ethical position: Philosophers, Theologians, Lawyers, Medical Doctors

1) http://members.home.com/jtstocks/prof/ethics/tuskg.html

2) http://www.dc.peachnet.edu/~shale/humanities/composition/assignments/experime

3) http://library.northernlight.com/SG19990730140007568.html?cb=0&sc=0#doc

 

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© Copyright Philip A. Pecorino 2002. All Rights reserved.

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