The Tuskegee Syphilis Study: How
Compromised Health Created an Ethical
Conflict
Kathleen Grube
Senior Division
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The Tuskegee Syphilis Study: How Compromised Health ..., Lecture notes of Ethics
Revealed in 1972, the study sparked a conflict around medical ethics, leading to new medical standards. After the Great Depression put halt to the initial 1929 ...
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The Tuskegee Syphilis Study: How
Compromised Health Created an Ethical
Conflict
Kathleen Grube
Senior Division
Individual Exhibit
Exhibit contains 499 words
Process Paper contains 500 words
My project is on the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the ethical conflict it created after 40
years of compromised health. I heard about this topic last year when I saw a project on the
Tuskegee Airmen, and my mom asked if I had ever heard about the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. I
decided to investigate, and I thought it would make an excellent topic for my project.
I started my project by focusing on how the Public Health Service (PHS) maintained the
deception for 40 years. After talking with some History Day staff, I was advised to focus my
project on how participants’ compromised health created an ethical conflict when the study
was revealed in 1972. I interviewed Susan Reverby, an expert on the study. She answered
some questions and referred me to excellent sources. I also interviewed medical professional
Kari Wilhelmi, who is familiar with how Tuskegee Study affects medicine today. The book “Bad
Blood” by James H. Jones was my most useful source. It went through the study’s
developments and brought voice to multiple perspectives involved in the study. National
Archives had many letters between PHS officials, and political cartoons after the revelation
were useful in illustrating the study, making it clear the public was not going to accept their
government conducting studies on their citizens.
This project has inspired me to research twisted stories in history where you wonder
“How could this happen?”. History Day has helped me to become a better writer, while doing a
board has taught me to be concise and organized. The colors on my board represent the color
of the men's skin and blood.
In 1929, the United States Public Health Service (PHS) began studying and exploring
treatment for syphilitic men in Tuskegee, Alabama. Altering their approach in 1932, PHS
compromised subjects’ health, shifting their focus from treating syphilis to observing its
Primary Sources
Letters
Clark, Taliaferro. “Outline of the Study.” Received by Dr. M.M. Davis, Rediscovering Black History: Records of the African-American Experience, The National Archives, 29 Oct.
This is a letter from Senior PHS officer, Taliaferro Clark to Dr. M. M. Davis of the Julius Rosenwald Fund. In this letter, Clark outlines the experiment and mentions what he hopes to achieve in his time frame of at least six months. Clark hopes to discover how untreated syphilis affects the “human economy among people now living and engaged in their daily pursuits.” Clark states that he picked this group of syphilitic men because they have not previously received treatment. In five bullet points, Clark outlines the experiment from getting volunteers, to health examinations, to physical exams that include X-Rays and spinal taps. Clark states that he is confident that the results of this experiment will “attract worldwide attention.” This letter was really useful in my build up when I was trying to figure out Clark’s motives and intentions behind the experiment.
Duval, Merlin K, and Assistant Secretary of Health. “Memorandum Terminating the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.” Received by Director Center for Disease Control, 16 Nov. 1972. This letter was written shortly after the Ad Hoc Panel came out with their findings on the ethicality and the amount of justification of the Tuskegee Experiment. Part of what the Panel was deciding on was whether the experiment should continue or be terminated. This letter was written to the director of the CDC demanding the study must be terminated. Not only that, but all the participants must receive all the appropriate medical care as a part of the “close-out” phase of the project. This letter was used in my impact when I talk about the termination of the study and the decisions of the Panel. This was really helpful to understand that the men were supposed to immediately receive medical attention and care.
Wenger, O. C. “Wenger to Clark .” Received by Taliaferro Clark, 9 Jan. 1933. This is a letter from the PHS surgeon O. C. Wenger to Senior PHS officer, Taliaferro Clark. In this letter, Wenger reports on the treatment centers in Macon County, Alabama from November 1, 1932 to December 31, 1932. Wenger calls attention to the number of cases of Syphilis uncovered, versus the percentage of subjects that return for their examination. It is stated that some didn’t return because they live too far away from the clinic, or because of bad weather, but are expected to report later. This letter was useful to know what the first blood tests uncovered, and how many people actually came back for their examination. I used this information in my build up when I talk about men testing positive for syphilis and returning for physical examinations.
Newspapers
A.B, Philadelphia Inquirer, Letter to the editor, July 30, 1972. This was a letter to the editor shortly after the study was revealed to the public. The quote I got from this letter was simple: “If this [study] is true, how in the name of God can we look others in the eye and say: ‘This is a decent country’”. I really liked this quote and learned a lot from this as it is simple but powerful. In such a proud, patriotic country, how can we live with pride with the knowledge that our own government compromised the health of so many innocent men without their consent? I think a lot of people like this author had to rethink their morals and values after this study was revealed and this was an excellent source to get a feel for what people in this country were thinking through after the study became public knowledge.
Afro-American, August 12, 1972. This was an influential Black Newspaper at the time the study was revealed. In here were many quotes from people responding to the revelation of the study. Many were furious as there was yet another unethical study using only Black subjects who could not do anything about it. I got a quote from here that talked about how condescending and void the claims are that race had nothing to do with the study, when all of the participants were Black. This person feels like federal officials think they can do anything where Black people are concerned. This was really helpful to hear this perspective. I used this in my impact when I talk about the outcry after the study was revealed.
"AIDE QUESTIONED SYPHILIS STUDY." New York Times (1923-Current file), Aug 09, 1972, pp.
- ProQuest. This newspaper was written a few months after the revelation of the study. I learned a bit about whistleblower Peter Buxtun’s history with the study. I learned that he tried to blow the whistle earlier in 1966, but was told nothing could be done for the participants in Tuskegee. I learned that the decision to not treat participants was done because of their age. PHS believed they were, to an extent, doing the men a service by withholding treatment. Penicillin has some awful side effects and the participants’ syphilis was believed to be dormant. Treatment was believed to do more harm than good, according to an Aide. This information was useful in my impact and main event when I talk about the revelation of the study, and about whether penicillin should have been given to the participants when it became available in the 1940s.
"AT LEAST 28 DIED IN SYPHILIS STUDY." New York Times (1923-Current file), Sep 12, 1972, pp.
- ProQuest. This newspaper article was written after the Syphilis Study was revealed to the public, but before the Ad Hoc Panel reviewed the ethicality of it. This article goes into detail about the deaths caused by the study and about how they determined 28 men died as a direct result of untreated syphilis from studying the men’s autopsies. I learned that not
talk about the study’s revelation and helped me to understand what the men were being told and what they were not being told about the study.
DR.R.A.VONDERLEHR; LED DISEASE CENTER." New York Times (1923-Current file), Jan 31, 1973, pp. 44. ProQuest. This newspaper announces the death of Raymond. A. Vonderlehr, who was the head of the Tuskegee study after Taliaferro Clark. This article talks about Vonderlehr’s life and accomplishments and his work in the venereal disease department. What this article did not mention however, was his work with the Tuskegee Study. The people who read this article in 1973 did not know him for his work in a study that was dominating the news and ethical conversations. They remember him for his work to combat communicable diseases, and his effort to bring the issue of venereal diseases to the attention of the public. This information was useful in my impact when talking about the aftermath of the revelation.
"EX-CHIEF DEFENDS SYPHILIS PROJECT." New York Times (1923-Current file), Jul 28, 1972, pp.
- ProQuest. This article had a very different tone and topic than many of the articles that came out during the time of the revelation. This article was about Dr. John R. Heller, who was the ex-chief of the study. He wholeheartedly defends the study and what it did. He finds nothing was unethical or unscientific about the experiment. Heller believes that all the participants received at least some form of treatment from private doctors during the study. This article, that came out only a few days after the study was revealed, cites only seven men died directly from the disease, which means they discovered the number was actually higher later. There was a Black physician who was also interviewed who worked on the study as an intern during the 1930s. He reveals that not even the interns were fully informed of the true goals of the study. This information was used in my main event when I talk about the revelation of the study and the public outcry it produced.
Heller, Jean. “Syphilis Victims in U.S. Study Went Untreated for 40 Years.” New York Times, 26 July 1972. This is the newspaper article that Jean Heller wrote that exposed the Tuskegee Syphilis Study to the public. Peter Buxtun was the person who told Heller about the study and she then reported it. Heller reveals that the participants were denied treatment even though an effective treatment was widely available (penicillin), and states, “the study was conducted to determine from autopsies what the disease does to the human body.” This article was really useful in my main event when I write about Buxtun revealing information to the press and the public. This was helpful to get first hand knowledge about the immediate reaction to the study as well as the efforts to compensate the participants.
NANCY H. "REGULATION URGED IN HUMAN TESTING." New York Times (1923-Current file), Mar 21, 1973, pp. 30. ProQuest. This article was written shortly after the Ad Hoc Panel came out with their decision of the ethicality of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Instead of reporting on the ethical decision made by the panel, this article focuses more on moving forward with better laws and protections of human subjects in medicine. From this article I learned that it was the DHEW that appointed the 9-member Ad Hoc Panel, as well as the action the panel suggested moving forward. I learned that the lack of a uniform policy for protection leads to confusion and denies some people the protection they deserve. A National Humans Investigation Board was suggested to regulate federally supported research. This information was really useful in my impact and legacy when I talk about the panel and the legacy of the experiment.
"NEGRO NURSE HONORED." New York Times (1923-Current file), Apr 19, 1958, pp. 8. ProQuest. This was an article announcing that Nurse Rivers of the PHS was awarded the United States Welfare Award. This award is given to the outstanding employee of the department. Nurse Rivers was awarded this because of her outstanding work in the “successful study of syphilis” in Tuskegee Alabama. This was useful to know that in 1958, the study was known, and even seen as a “success”. Rivers won an award for her work on this study that, less than 20 years later caused a huge ethical debate and caused a lot of outcry. This information was useful for my main event when learning about what was acceptable during those 40 years of studying syphilis.
"Plaintiffs are Narrowed in Syphilis Research Suit." New York Times (1923-Current file), Jul 14, 1974, pp. 40. ProQuest. This was a newspaper article published in 1974, two years after the revelation of the Syphilis Study to the public. This article came out around the time that the men were seeking compensation with their attorney Fred D. Grey. This article announces that plaintiffs were narrowed to include only the men physically affected by the disease. I learned that the men were seeking a three million dollar out of court settlement. I also learned that the men were asking that the class action include the surviving participants as well as the families of all the participants alive or dead. This article was useful for my impact when I talk about the lawsuit and helped me understand what the men were asking for.
Special to The New,York Times. "H.E.W. WILL STUDY SYPHILIS PROJECT." New York Times (1923-Current file), Aug 25, 1972, pp. 40. ProQuest. This newspaper article came out about a month after the revelation of the study to the public. This article announces the appointment of a panel to review the ethicality of the study. In here, I learned about the person who appointed the panel as well as the issues the panel was tasked with deciphering. These issues included whether the study was justified when it began in 1932, and whether it was justified to continue after
suggested. This article was really helpful in my impact when I talk about the panel’s findings.
Washington Post, July 31, 1972. This was a newspaper article right after the study was revealed to the public. After that, the newspapers were full of fiery opinions on the study and the ethicality and the amount, or lack of justification it deserved. This newspaper clip was of the perspective that experiments are ethically justified if the guinea pigs are fully informed that they are in fact guinea pigs. This means they are fully aware of the facts, risks and dangers. That was not the case in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, so therefore it was not ethically sound or justified. This was a really helpful source that supported that there was an outcry in the public who believed that ethics need to be rethought and revised if the United States will allow a study like this to happen.
WOOTEN, JAMES T Special to The New,York Times. "Survivor of '32 Syphilis Study Recalls a Diagnosis." New York Times (1923-Current file), Jul 27, 1972, pp. 18. ProQuest. This article was written shortly after the revelation of the study. Here, I learned all about Charlie Pollard who was a participant of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study for 40 years. It was fascinating to hear his words and realize just how little he knew about the study and its goals, although he was a part of it for so long. I learned there were only 74 survivors out of the original group. I learned that in return for participation in the study, men were promised free hospital care, free burial, and $100 for their survivors. Mr. Pollard was only told that he had “bad blood” and went for routine examinations without much more thought. Syphilis was never mentioned to him once. This was really useful information as I learned just how secretive and deceptive this study was. For 40 years the men had never even heard the term “syphilis” being used, let alone know they had the disease. This information was used in my main event and impact when I talk about the revelation of the study, and it helped me understand how the study was structured.
Journal Articles
Carter, R. Brundenell. “Medical Ethics.” International Journal of Ethics, vol. 11, no. 1, 1900, pp. 22–46. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2376431. This article was written in 1900: 32 years before the start of the infamous study. This gave some excellent background on the basic, accepted ethics at the time the study began. To understand what was acceptable at the time helps you to see this event in another perspective. This included the “code of ethics”, and lists out the accepted rules of the time. Through these rules, I gained knowledge about the role of the practitioner, and what was acceptable for them to do, as well as the role of the patient. I learned a bit about their relationship. This source was very useful for my background section, It was extremely helpful to learn what was the 1900s view on ethics, and it was really interesting to know there were any to begin with.
“Control Of Syphilis In America.” The British Medical Journal, vol. 2, no. 3961, 1936, pp. 1151–1151. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25354897. This article gave me some insight into the syphilis problem around the world in the 1930s. I learned it was not a problem just within the United States, but also in Sweden, England, and Denmark. This article claims that the disease in the United States is being tackled, but not as successfully as in those other countries. This article stresses the importance of treatment and believes there should be a nationwide push to eradicate it. Blood tests and education were discussed as possible options to tackle the problem. This article was useful in my background and build up to understand the context of the study. It became clear that syphilis was seen as a major health problem at this time, which helped me to understand why the Tuskegee study began in the first place, and why the men were so willing to participate.
“Ethics Of Human Experimentation.” The British Medical Journal, vol. 2, no. 5348, 1963, pp. 1–2. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20381330. This article was written in the early 1960s, and gave me some excellent context as to the medical norms and issues involving informed consent and proper ethics. This article states that “The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential. This means that the person involved should have legal capacity to give consent; should be so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, overreaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion.” This information was really valuable to know because these thoughts and norms made it clear why there was such passionate outcry. Many of these ideas became incorporated in the Belmont Report which is a standard in medical ethics today. This was useful in my main event when talking about medical ethics and norms of the mid to late 1900s.
“Ethics Of Human Experimentation.” The British Medical Journal, vol. 2, no. 5402, 1964, pp. 135–136. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25399488. This was a source that was useful for determining what was going on in the medical community regarding ethics and norms involving human experimentation. This article poses the question of “what are the desirable limits within which the medical research worker should remain?” I learned about important milestones protecting human subjects including the 1953 Medical Research Council where they drew up a general statement to indicate its "attitude towards the considerations involved in carrying out investigations on patients.” I also learned about the importance of the Nuremberg Trials to the advancements of ethics. This article was used in my main event when I was trying to find out what was going on during the experiment and how the views on the rights and protections of human subjects changed overtime.
Herman Beerman. “Research Needs in Syphilis.” Public Health Reports (1896-1970), vol. 78, no. 4, 1963, pp. 305–313. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4591783. This was an article written in the early 1960s when the Syphilis study was still going on but had not been revealed as an unethical study yet. This article is very honest with its audience about what is known about syphilis this far, and what still needs to be found out. I learned about the Wasserman tests and how they were used to test people for syphilis, but often they were inaccurate, showing people were positive when they were negative and negative when they were positive. At this time, it was still believed syphilis affected different races differently, as the author lists race as one of the “factors influencing the course of syphilis.” At the end of this article, the author mentions that some studies have been done to study the effects of syphilis, and mentions Tuskegee as one of those places. This article helped me in my main event when I talk about the 40 years the study was going on. This helped me get some context for what was known at the time, and what was still to be learned about the effects of syphilis.
HOLMES, S. J. “DIFFERENTIAL MORTALITY IN THE AMERICAN NEGRO.” Human Biology, vol. 3, no. 1, 1931, pp. 71–106. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41447615. This source was incredibly helpful in understanding the shared knowledge about how syphilis affected Blacks and Whites. There was information about how many Black deaths from syphilis there were versus White deaths, and what was generally believed to be the differences of how the disease affected the races. There were multiple perspectives in here about those beliefs which was interesting to know that not everyone agreed that it affected them differently. Some researchers were even quoted by saying, there is "no difference in the course of the disease in the two races," or in their response to treatment. This was really useful in my build up when I talk about the belief about the differences in races in how they react and are affected by syphilis.
Holmes, S. J. “The Principal Causes of Death Among Negroes: A General Comparative Statement.” The Journal of Negro Education, vol. 6, no. 3, 1937, pp. 289–302. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2292278. This journal gave some really good insight into what were the beliefs about Blacks in medicine and how some diseases affected the races differently. This article went through the primary causes of death among Blacks, which included cancer, tuberculosis, and syphilis among other ones. This was really helpful because it was written during the Syphilis Study and was useful in understanding why PHS wanted to investigate how syphilis affected Blacks differently than it did Whites. This information was used in my build up when I talk about the how syphilis was believed to affect Blacks and Whites differently.
“In This Issue.” The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly, vol. 32, no. 3, 1954, pp. 245–246. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3348279. This article was an announcement/introduction for what was included in this issue of The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly, June 1954 issue. In here there is an
announcement for an article on the long term effects of untreated syphilis in the Negro Male. Very matter-of-factly, this short paragraph states that men have been investigated by the United States PHS by a method of continuous follow-up cases over 20 years. It announces that unusual data has been uncovered about this disease. It even says the “lethal effects” of syphilis will be evaluated in the article entitled “"Untreated Syphilis in the Male Negro. A Prospective Study of the Effects on Life Expectancy.” This article was really useful to know what people knew about this study before it was revealed and how they described it. Apparently they knew it was “lethal”, but still nobody blew the whistle for another 20 years. This was used in my main event when I was learning about what went on over those 40 years of experimentation.
Katz, Ralph V, DMD,PhD., M.P.H., et al. "Awareness of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the US Presidential Apology and their Influence on Minority Participation in Biomedical Research." American Journal of Public Health, vol. 98, no. 6, 2008, pp. 1137-42. ProQuest, http://ezproxy.hclib.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.hclib.org/docv iew/215093719?accountid=6743. This article spoke a lot to the legacy of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the presidential apology ten years earlier and what effect that had on the willingness for minorities to participate in studies today. This paper talked about a questionnaire done in several U.S. cities and it found that Blacks were four times as likely to have heard of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and twice as likely to correctly name Clinton as the president who made the apology. This article concluded that the Tuskegee Study had a lasting impact on the Black community and their willingness to participate in biomedical studies sponsored by the United States Government. This information was useful in my legacy when I discuss the long term impacts of this study.
“Late Effects Of Syphilis.” The British Medical Journal, vol. 2, no. 4893, 1954, pp. 923–923. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20330558. This article was written in 1954, 22 years after the Tuskegee Study began, and 18 years before it ended. This gave me some insight into what was known about syphilis at this time, and what was still to be known. I learned that from 1941-1946, there was a rapid increase in syphilis cases. It reached its peak in 1946, and with the discovery of penicillin, there was a rapid decrease. I also learned the difference in the cure for early and late syphilis. Apparently, early syphilis was being cured relatively quickly, but late syphilis, with all its manifestations, was taking longer to detect and cure. At the end, this claim was made: “Though syphilis is not the scourge it was, a good knowledge of its protean manifestations, a general awareness of the disease, and an increase in blood testing will help to ensure that treatment is always given in a stage where it is most effective.” This was useful for me to know this may have been a reason why the men were withheld treatment - because perhaps the PHS believed treatment would not have been effective in the men’s late stage of syphilis. This information was used in my main event when I talk about the 40 year study and helped me understand what new discoveries about syphilis were going on during that time.
men’s autopsies. Rivers goes through her role as the liaison and how the doctors and nurses gained the patients’ trust. She talks a lot about the excited attitudes of the men and nothing about whether she believed this was an ethical or unethical study. This was very useful information to use in my main event when talking about Nurse Rivers’ role in the study.
Schick, F. B. “The Nuremberg Trial and the International Law of the Future.” The American Journal of International Law, vol. 41, no. 4, 1947, pp. 770–794. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2193089. This article was written a few years after the Nuremberg Trials occurred. I learned a bit about what these trials were and what this new code meant for the future of medicine and the protection of human subjects. The violation of these treaties and international laws were called “illegal war”. This was a dense article, packed with information and was used to get some context as to what was going on during those 40 years of experimentation. These rules were set in place over 10 years after the study began, and yet the study continued.
Shafer, J. K., et al. “Untreated Syphilis in the Male Negro: A Prospective Study of the Effect on Life Expectancy.” Public Health Reports (1896-1970), vol. 69, no. 7, 1954, pp. 684–690. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4588863. This report came out in 1954 about the results thus far about untreated syphilis in the male Negro. This came out nearly 20 years before the study was revealed to the public. The perspective and voice of this article is very matter-of-fact. It gave me the impression that the authors didn’t think this study was wrong, or perhaps they didn’t know all the deceptive details of the study. The time this report was written was before African Americans were recognized as having equal rights as Whites, so maybe people had less of a problem with the study in 1954 than they did in 1972. This article went into the life expectancy of men at different ages with and without syphilis. There were tables and graphs here that supported their claims. This was very useful in understanding what was going on in public knowledge during those 40 years of observation. I found the tone of the writing fascinating as the tone 20 years later was quite different.
“Untreated Syphilis.” The British Medical Journal, vol. 1, no. 4966, 1956, pp. 560–562. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20334721. This article discusses the results of the Oslo Study, which was conducted over 20 years prior to the Tuskegee Study. I learned about how that study was conducted, as well as the thinking behind the decision to keep those men from treatment. I learned that it was believed that the men’s own defense mechanisms alone could better combat the disease than the antisyphilitic treatment of the day. This was important to know some context to the Tuskegee Study and to learn about what was commonly believed about the human defense system. I also learned about how syphilis was believed to attack the body and the effects of leaving it untreated. This information was useful in my
background when I was finding what was going on at the time the syphilis demonstrations began. It was also helpful in my build up when I discuss Clark’s attempt to further the Oslo study with his own study on Blacks.
Vonderlehr, R. A. “Cooperative Clinical Studies of the Treatment of Syphilis in the United States.” The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly, vol. 13, no. 2, 1935, pp. 133–145. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3347623. This article was written by Raymond Vonderlehr in 1935, only 3 years after the initiation of the Tuskegee Study. Reading this article, it became clear that Vonderlehr was extremely interested and committed to treating syphilis and was getting clinics across the United States to agree to participate in an investigation to study problems related to the treatment of syphilis. Through this article, I learned what was believed about how syphilis affected the human body, and how the findings of this investigation would hold immense value and the knowledge would be distributed among members of the medical community. This information was really useful to get some context to the study and some background into Vonderlehr’s life and interest in syphilis. This information was used in my build up.
Books
Reverby, Susan M. Tuskegee's Truths: Rethinking the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2001. This was an amazing source where I found the quotes and testimonies from the Kennedy Hearings. In here were the interviews with the survivors of the study as well as the whistleblowers. This is the first source I found where there were the actual testimonies, the actual voices from the hearings. This was super useful when writing my impact when I discuss the hearings. Reading these testimonies gave me a deeper understanding of what the men went through and what they were thinking during those 40 years the study was going on. I found it fascinating that many of the participants had absolutely no clue they were part of a study that was putting their lives at risk. Even when the study was revealed, many men gave no thought that they were part of that study. As far as they were concerned, they were just men getting treated from government doctors for their “bad blood”. This source was extremely useful to hear the actual voices of the men involved.
Magazine Articles
Brandt, Allan M. “Racism and Research: The Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.” The Hastings Center Report, vol. 8, no. 6, 1978, p. 21., doi:10.2307/3561468. This is an article from the Hastings Center Magazine, written in the wake of the revelation of the study, just six years earlier. This article makes the claim that this study was done on the basis of racial bias. Brandt gives some background information on the beliefs about the different races in the early 20th century. He acknowledges the fact
multiple perspectives from the Black community. It became clear after reading this that not all the people of Tuskegee were angry about the study. Many of them just accepted it as another way the government fooled the Black community, and moved on relatively quickly. There were so many quotes from the people of Tuskegee, Nurse Rivers, many players in the PHS, and the general public. I got many quotes from reading this article that were useful in the second half of my main event.
Speeches
Clinton, Bill. “REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT IN APOLOGY FOR STUDY DONE IN TUSKEGEE.” Presidential Apology May 16, 1997. Presidential Apology May 16, 1997, 17 Apr. 2017, Washington D.C, The East Room 2:26 P.M. EDT. This is Bill Clinton’s speech in 1997 as he apologized to the few remaining survivors of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study for what the United States Government did to the men and their families. There were many quotes in here that are filled with power and grief. Clinton acknowledges that most Americans would prefer not to remember that period of 40 years when our country compromised the health of hundreds of Black men in Alabama. Clinton also promises that an event like this need never happen again. We all need to take responsibility to ensure that a “Tuskegee” never occurs again. This speech was used in my legacy when I talk about preventing another Tuskegee, and shows pictures of Bill Clinton and his apology.
Reports
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Belmont Report. Office of the Secretary, p. all, Belmont Report. This is the Belmont Report, one of the legacies of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. In here were all the new, explicit rules on medical procedure and experimentation on human subjects. This goes through the basic ethical principles, which include the respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. There was also a section about how to apply all these principles when conducting research. These three things included informed consent, full knowledge of information, full comprehension, and voluntariness. These things were clearly not all present during the Tuskegee Study and I could see why they were explicitly placed in this report outlining medical ethics. It was really helpful to see exactly what is in this report and exactly what rules researchers have to follow today. This was used in my legacy when I talk about the Belmont Report and how it is the standard today for medical ethics.
Mr. Ronald H. Brown Dr. Vernal Cave Mr. Barney H. Weeks Dr. Jean L. Harris, Co-Chairman Dr. Jeanne C. Sinkford, Co-Chairman and Mr. Fred Speaker, Panel Member. FINAL REPORT TUSKEGEE SYPHILIS STUDY AD HOC ADVISORY PANEL. pp. 1–9, FINAL REPORT TUSKEGEE SYPHILIS STUDY AD HOC ADVISORY PANEL.
This is the final report by the Ad Hoc Advisory Panel, appointed by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, to investigate “whether the study was justified, whether it should be continued, and if existing H.E.W. regulations properly protected the rights of patients.” The report goes into each of these questions. This committee found that in the context of 1932, when there was no clear cure for syphilis anyway, the study was not unethical or unjustified. However, when a cure became widely available in the 1940s, the committee agreed that is when it became an unethical study. The PHS should have administered penicillin no later than 1953. The panel also found no evidence of informed consent or a clear protocol. This report came in very useful in my impact when I talk about the panel being appointed and the outcomes of their investigation.
Photographs
Center for Disease Control. A Tuskegee Study Subject Undergoes a Spinal Tap to Obtain Spinal Fluid for Neurosyphilis Testing. Tuskegee, Alabama. This photograph was taken of nurses standing around a patient and victim of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. The patient is receiving a spinal tap. This was useful because I never knew what a spinal tap looked like. I used this photograph in my build up when I talk about the experiment being under the guise of treatment. The men thought they were getting treatment for their disease, when really they were receiving spinal taps and ineffective drugs in the name of science and curiosity.
Corbis. A Pharmacist in 1945 Posts a Sign Informing His Customers of the Availability of Penicillin. This photograph shows a man in a pharmacy putting up a sign announcing that penicillin is in stock. The sign reads “this store can now service the public through the medical profession with penicillin.” This picture shows how much penicillin was a wonder drug at the time and how people believed they were doing a service to the public by carrying it and selling it. This was used in my main event when I talk about the discovery of penicillin in the 1940s and how it was denied to the men.
Grinnell.edu. African and American Men Receiving “Special Free Treatment” from Physicians and Nurses. Tuskegee, Alabama, 1932. This is a photograph of hundreds of Black men in Tuskegee, Alabama lining up to get tested for syphilis from “Government Doctors and Nurses”. This is what the men believed was “Special Free Treatment”. This photograph helped me to see what the testing looked like, and just how much interest the PHS garnered with their clever wording like “special” and “free”. This was used as a visual in my build up when I talk about the hundreds of men lining up to get tested.