Premium Essay

Tuskegee Project

In:

Submitted By mookiepride
Words 1200
Pages 5
The Tuskegee study was a human study program to evaluate the progression of syphilis. The purpose was to study and record of the sexually transmitted disease. 600 African American men where held without their agreement to be studied.399 Syphilis cases and 201 syphilis free cases. The researchers convinced these men that they were being treated for “bad blood”. This stood for a number of things such as fatigue, anemia, and syphilis.
In exchange for the men’s’ cooperation they received medical exams, free meals, and burial insurance. This project originally was supposed to last for only six months and that six months turned into 40 years. The first press story about the study in 1972, caused the public to have an all-out cry for help for those men. They were being denied their rights by not being told in detail what was going on and they were not being treated for their disease correctly.
The assistant secretary for Health and Scientific Affairs appointed an Ad Hoc Advisory panel to review the study. The members where from medicine, law, religion, labor, education, health administration, and public affairs fields. Their job was to evaluate what should be done next. Forty years of human study and nothing knew was acquired or done. This is what caused them to get involved in the first place.
The final report of the panel showed the violations that where found throughout the study. This included not treating the patients and not thoroughly explaining the situation. They also found that because the patients remained infected with syphilis, many of their family member’s contracted the disease.
Many people in the community viewed this incident as very racist and maybe an act of genocide even. “The United States government did something that was deeply wrong, profoundly, morally wrong. It was an outrage to our commitment to integrity and equality for all our citizens….

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study

...Tuskegee Syphilis Study was a very controversial research study conducted by the United States Public Health Service in collaboration with the Tuskegee University (then known as the Tuskegee Institute) in Macon County, Alabama between the years 1932 and 1972. The study was named the “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male” and the original intent was to study the effects of untreated syphilis on African-American men for a duration of six to nine months and then follow-up with a treatment plan. A total of 600 African American men were enrolled in the study, 399 men with syphilis and 201 men without the infection. Syphilis is a highly contagious disease caused by the bacteria Treponema pallidum transmitted sexually or congenitally...

Words: 1576 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment Essay

...In 1932, the rural town of Tuskegee was a mostly black town that was governed by whites. World War II had not began, though there was trouble brewing in Europe as these countries began to pacify the fiery German giants who would later commit unspeakable acts, one that horrified Americans who had little knowledge of what was going on in a little Alabama time all at the government’s behest. The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment began in 1932, after the venereal disease section of the PHS created a c study group at its national headquarters to study the sexually transmitted disease known as Syphillis. The man behind the plan was Dr. Taliaferro Clark, a senior officer in the PHS who planned only for the experiment to last for six to nine months, before treating the men and ending the study. He contacted Tuskegee University (then Tuskegee Institute) to gain their cooperation to expand the study into a real-word environment and study the effects. The PHS then invited poor and poorly uneducated African-American men to come to the Institute to receive free medical exams and treatment. They also provided meals and...

Words: 2132 - Pages: 9

Free Essay

Reserach

...George Washington Carver For centuries scientists have expanded the many discoveries within the chemistry community that have provided the world with educational and personal impact. George Washington Carver was a man of honor and help that developed beneficial services to farmers and slaves during his time. He dedicated his life to research projects that over time changed Southern farmers declining economic crisis. “The products he derived from the peanut and the soybean revolutionized the economy of the South by liberating it from an excessive dependence on cotton” (“George Washington carver”, 1993). From being a teacher to well known advocate, Carver was influential man that committed his life to helping others no matter the circumstances. This led him to the developments of methods for conserving nutrients in soil and discoveries of new uses for crops like the peanut helped transform the agricultural economy of the South. Although born into slavery, George Washington Carver became one of the nation’s greatest educators and agricultural researchers/chemist. With a childhood illness that could have taken his life, Carver worked hard as a child with household chores and gardening. His keen interest in learning how to read, write, and spell took Carver to high places that all African American children dreamed of. He worked hard to get into college where many schools declined him because of his skin color. Regardless of such disappointing reasons, his determination and perseverance...

Words: 1361 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Tuskegee Syphillis Study

...Tuskegee Syphilis Study In 1932, the public health service along Tuskegee Institute in Macon County, Alabama conducted a study of syphilis. The study’s subjects were 600 black males, 399 who has the disease and 201 without the disease. The project name was Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male. The study, which James Jones has described as the longest nontherapeutic experiment on a human being in medical history. Unethical Research “Deception occurs when the participants are told only part of the truth or when the truth is fully compromised”. (Cooper, 2011) The unethical study was also deemed unconstitutional and in some ways as heinous as a hate crime. The misrepresentation of the actual focus of the program, the disregard of human life, and the actual infecting of human beings. We must also realize that this experiment took place in the rural south when segregation was an acceptable way of life. The fact that blacks were considered not equal so nobody would question the experiments validity or the intentions of the doctors in charge of the research. The men participating were misled by doctors by saying they were being treated for bad blood a general diagnosis given by doctors that could include a variety of common illness. The men were given free funerals, meals, and examinations. These examinations were not treating the disease but were deceptive in nature. Some speculate that the men were actually infected with the disease by the study administrators...

Words: 804 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Tuskegee Syphilis Research

...information concerning the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, there is a small assortment of books to choose from. I chose The Tuskegee Syphilis Study by Fred Gray because he was the lawyer in the lawsuits against the government, and I thought that he would be able to provide the most in-depth analysis of the event because he was actually involved in it. It was also written fairly recently, so that enables the book to analyze the long term effects that it has had on African-Americans, the South, and history in general. Gray’s book provides a very informative study, but if you’re looking for more information, check out James Jones’ Bad Blood. Gray takes a lot of information from this book which was written about 20 years before his. When searching the web for information on the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, the results were quite slim. Most of the results involved syllabi for college classes or websites much like our own that were prepared for a class. The website that I reviewed is from the Tuskegee University National Center for Bioethics, which was actually created from President Clinton’s apology and ideas for improvement of racial relations and medical testing. The webpage’s main purpose is to educate the public about the atrocities that were performed on African-Americans in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, and to help prevent an event like this from ever happening again The Tuskegee Syphilis Study by Fred D. Gray examines a medical study that occurred in Tuskegee, Alabama which dealt...

Words: 916 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Up from Slavery

...commanding presence and oratory deeply moved his contemporaries. His writings continue to influence readers today. Although Washington claimed his autobiography was “a simple, straightforward story, with no attempt at embellishment,” readers for nearly a century have found it richly rewarding. Today, Up From Slavery appeals to a wide audience from early adolescence through adulthood. More important, however, is the inspiration his story of hard work and positive goals gives to all readers. His life is an example providing hope to all. The complexity and contradictions of his life make his autobiography intellectually intriguing for advanced readers. To some he was known as the Sage of Tuskegee or the Black Moses. One of his prominent biographers, Louis R. Harlan, called him the “Wizard of the Tuskegee Machine.” Others acknowledged him to be a complicated person and public figure. Students of American social and political history have come to see that Washington lived a double life. Publicly he appeased the white establishment by remaining cautious in his charges and demands. Privately he worked tirelessly to undo the effects of institutional and cultural racism. Although he seemed to have made a grand compromise, first with the white south and then with white America, he worked in deepest secret to undermine the compromise and advance the social and economic position of blacks. No doubt exists as to his greatness....

Words: 13713 - Pages: 55

Free Essay

Tuskegee Study

...Tuskegee Study Ezequiel W. Ferreras EN1320 - Composition 1 ITT Technical Institute ABSTRACT This paper is to prove how the Tuskegee study was morally and ethically wrong. Many of the men involved in the study died due to the experiments. This study has made it important for all patients to understand their options for treatment and outcomes and know that they have a choice. Any one can deny treatment if they wish to do so. Many doctors devote their lives to their patients and have learned from this major medical error. Tuskegee Study Some people may believe they don’t need to try as hard if they already achieved their goal, but if a physician does not do their best a patient can die and if no one did their best then there would be no doctors, lawyers or even teachers. However, when you apply the unethical concepts in this study it violates the professional code of ethics and the moral reasoning of the study. Albeit it is for a test to make history the obligations of a nurse are very important and must be followed. In Miss Evers’ Boys, physicians investigate in a medical study that takes place in Tuskegee Alabama, which dealt with watching African-American subjects discover the effects of untreated syphilis. The major objective of the study was to search for African-American males in the second stage of syphilis, and then from time to time perform exams on these men to find out the effects that syphilis had on their bodies. (Grey 1998) Raymond A. Vonderlehr...

Words: 2316 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Unethical Business Study

...conduct that has resulted in individuals or a firm being convicted, or at least tried for, this conduct. Some examples include the following: • Asking inappropriate questions • Skewing research results • Failing to maintain participants’ confidential information • Using participant information for unintended purposes such as selling goods or services Summarize the article you researched. Write a 750-word paper in which you address the following questions: • What unethical research behavior was involved? • Who were the injured parties? • How has the unethical behavior affected the organization, the individual, and society? • How could the unethical behavior be avoided or resolved? In the 1932 case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study was a 40-year project administered by the US Public Health Service in Macon County, Alabama. The study consisted of 400 men being promised free treatment for an epidemic of bad blood in their county. The treatment was withheld from the men and was never given. The study was tested on a group of African American men who were told they had bad blood and never received standard treatment for syphilis,. Syphilis is a sexual transmitted disease. It can lead to a range of painful, chronic and deadly symptoms, such as infection in the nerve-system, or cardiovascular-complications. Even-though the cure of penicillin was available the men were never informed of the research design or it's risk to them. What made this case highly unethical is that the...

Words: 693 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study

...information concerning the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, there is a small assortment of books to choose from. I chose The Tuskegee Syphilis Study by Fred Gray because he was the lawyer in the lawsuits against the government, and I thought that he would be able to provide the most in-depth analysis of the event because he was actually involved in it. It was also written fairly recently, so that enables the book to analyze the long term effects that it has had on African-Americans, the South, and history in general. Gray’s book provides a very informative study, but if you’re looking for more information, check out James Jones’ Bad Blood. Gray takes a lot of information from this book which was written about 20 years before his. When searching the web for information on the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, the results were quite slim. Most of the results involved syllabi for college classes or websites much like our own that were prepared for a class. The website that I reviewed is from the Tuskegee University National Center for Bioethics, which was actually created from President Clinton’s apology and ideas for improvement of racial relations and medical testing. The webpage’s main purpose is to educate the public about the atrocities that were performed on African-Americans in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, and to help prevent an event like this from ever happening again The Tuskegee Syphilis Study by Fred D. Gray examines a medical study that occurred in Tuskegee, Alabama which dealt...

Words: 2331 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Cool Cat

...The Tuskegee Syphilis Study: Some Ethical Reflections 75 The Tuskegee Syphilis Study: Some Ethical Reflections Adebayo A. Ogungbure Department of Philosophy University of Ibadan, Nigeria philosopher.bayo@yahoo.com Thought and Practice: A Journal of the Philosophical Association of Kenya (PAK) New Series, Vol.3 No.2, December 2011, pp.75-92 thoughtandpractice@gmail.com http://ajol.info/index.php/tp/index Abstract There are established ethical principles to protect human participants in biomedical research from undue exploitation by researchers. However, in the “Tuskegee Study” in the US, these principles were grossly violated. The task of this paper is to critically examine the ethical implications of that study on future practices in biomedical research, and to suggest ways of ensuring that such practices comply with appropriate ethical values. Key Words Bioethics, Biomedical research, clinical research, Tuskegee Study, paternalism, morality Introduction From time to time human beings experience health challenges, whether physical or mental. On its part, medical practice has made considerable progress towards combating or controlling many of these challenges. It is through research that the nature, symptoms and effects of ailments can be ascertained and remedies discovered. Medical researchers engage in both therapeutic and non-therapeutic research. Therapeutic research is that carried out with the purpose of treating disease. On the other hand, non-therapeutic...

Words: 6565 - Pages: 27

Free Essay

Booker T. Washington

...of the most influential African Americans in history. Raised the son of a slave mother, Washington was self- motivated and committed to his own education from a young age. The tumultuous time in America’s history during which he lived afforded him new freedoms that came from Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and the eventual success of the North in the Civil War.[1] He took the first opportunity to attend a formal school, Hampton Institute, which led to professorship and the founding of one of the most prestigious African American educational institutions of the nineteenth century, Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.[2] When the Civil War ended in 1865, many newly freed black Americans sought education at all levels. But there were few trade schools or public schools that they were allowed to enroll in.[3] Among the first black colleges to meet the need was Tuskegee University, established in 1881.[4] Booker T. Washington was born a slave on a plantation five years before the Civil War began, near Hales Ford, Virginia, on James Burroughs’s plantation in 1856. The slaves on the Burroughs’ farm learned that they were free in spring of 1865. Booker had survived chattel slavery and the Civil War.[5] He moved with his mother and siblings to Charleston, West Virginia to join his step-father, a Union Army veteran.[6] Washington was called only Booker during his early youth and added the name Washington when he entered elementary school. Living under impoverished...

Words: 3370 - Pages: 14

Free Essay

Booker T. Washington: Fighter for the Black Man

...Booker T. Washington was a man beyond words. His perseverance and will to work were well known throughout the United States. He rose from slavery, delivering speech after speech expressing his views on how to uplift America's view of the Negro. He felt that knowledge was power, not just knowledge of "books", but knowledge of agricultural and industrial trades. He felt that the Negro would rise to be an equal in American society through hard work. Washington founded a school on these principles, and it became the world's leader in agricultural and industrial education for the Negro. As the world watched him put his heart and soul into his school, Tuskegee Institute, he gained great respect from both the white and black communities. Many of the country's white leaders agreed with his principals, and so he had a great deal of support. Booker T. Washington was a great man. He put his own needs aside in order to build the reputation of an entire race. He didn't do it by accusing and putting blame on others, but instead through hard work. Booker T. Washington cleared the way for the black community to fully enter the American society. Washington was born into slavery on April 5, 1856, in Franklin County, Virginia, on a small tobacco plantation. His only true relative was his mother, Jane, who was the plantation's cook. His father was probably the white son of one of the neighbors, though it is not known for sure. Washington spent his childhood years on the plantation, but since...

Words: 342 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Tuskegee Airmen Book Report

...simultaneously fought two wars. This book really talked about how they had to fight Hitler and segregation. Hitler ruled the skies in Europe and Jim Crow ruled the skies in the US. Young black men came to Tuskegee, Alabama in the early 1940s, when the US Army opened pilot training to African Americans. Tuskegee was chosen as the place for the first black military pilot training because Tuskegee Institute had already been training black civilian pilots, Tuskegee Institute lobbied for the contract to operate a primary flight school for pilots, the region had more days of good flying weather than many other...

Words: 1587 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Tuskegee Airmen Research Paper

...The Tuskegee Airmen were the group of black pilots trained at the Tuskegee Institute. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first black pilots in the United States Air force. They overcame many racial barriers in their training and during their time in the air force. The careers of the Tuskegee airmen were great strides in the civil rights movement because they showed that African Americans were capable of the same things as whites. The Tuskegee Airmen had great training, they had to go through many racial challenges, and on top of that they were some of the most successful pilots in World War 2. Training The Tuskegee airmen were trained at the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama. The Tuskegee institute was an all African-American Institute founded by Booker T. Washington. The Tuskegee Institute received a contract from the military and provided training to African Americans while the military built a segregated base. The Tuskegee Institute provided training in meteorology, navigation and instruments. All of the cadets that did very well in these classes were moved to the Tuskegee Army Air Field. The Air Corps provided aircraft, textbooks, flying clothes, parachutes and...

Words: 932 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment

...The Tuskegee syphilis experiment was a clinical study of untreated syphilis in hundreds of poor African American men. The members of the study thought that they were receiving free healthcare from the United States Government, and were told only that they had “bad blood.” Throughout the experiment the men remained unaware that they had syphilis. Even with the development of penicillin, the standard treatment for the syphilis, the men went purposefully untreated for the sake of the experiment. The study lasted forty years. Along the lines of the Catholic Social Teaching, this study is entirely unacceptable. First and foremost, the experiment is in total disregard of dignity. Humans are created in the image and likeness of God, and therefore...

Words: 255 - Pages: 2