The Unethical Issues of the Tuskegee Study Essay - 1707 Words

In 1929, there were good intentions to help the African Americans. The Julius Rosenwald Fund tried to improve the health illnesses of African Americans by approaching representatives of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS). Unfortunately, the Great Depression did not allow for this study to happen because it hit the Fund hard. Since there were no more funds, Dr. Taliaferro Clark, Chief of the USPHS Venereal Disease Division and author of the Rosenwald Study report, suggested that the treatment study could be partly saved by conducting a new study. This study became known as â€Å"Study of Untreated Syphilis in Males.† The U.S. Public Health Service conducted this new experiment study which consisted of 399 men with syphilis and 201 men†¦show more content†¦Many of the healthcare workers such as doctors strongly believed that there was a racial difference in the symptoms of diseases. The white doctors often thought that African Americans â€Å"contracted syphilis because of their ever-increasing low standards of sexual morality† (24). The participants had to be men about twenty five years of age with syphilis who had not been treated for the disease. It was quite simple to gather a group of people in Macon County because it was a poor community with bad hygiene. Many men who participated in this study have never seen a doctor in their life which willingly made them to be part of this study. The African Americans did not know about the healthcare terms and were taken advantage of by white doctors who contributed to this study. In fact, the doctors had no intention in helping the par ticipants to be cured from syphilis. Syphilis is a disease that is sexually transmitted that can cause serious difficulties such as death if it is not treated. If you treat it with penicillin, it is simple to cure. There are three stages of this disease. The first stage is the primary stage; during this stage a person may notice a single sore or a couple and it is usually painless. During the second stage people start to get rashes or sores in different areas such as the mouth, vagina, or anus. The Latent and Late Stages starts to settle in when all of the symptoms that a person hadShow MoreRelatedEthics Of The Tuskegee Study1377 Words   |  6 Pagesperforming scientific medical research. The Tuskegee study failed to uphold the moral codes. The Tuskegee syphilis study was the longest held study in the United States. The study continued for 40 years, from 1932 to 1972 which at that time a civil rights attorney ended the study and filed a lawsuit claiming the study carried out unethical methods. The Tuskegee study included only African American males with the diagnosis of syphilis. The study initially was to determine if the African AmericanRead MoreRacism and Research the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Essay1087 Words   |  5 PagesThe Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study | | 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 racismRead MoreThe Tuskegee Syphilis Study And The Stanford Prison Experiment883 Words   |  4 Pagespsychological studies unprincipled violations have constructed ethical standards that are essential in today’s research. These moral dilemmas created established professional and federal standards for performing research with human and animal participants, known as, psychological ethical codes. The Tuskegee syphilis study and the Stanford prison experiment highlighted a psychological study without proper patients’ consent and appropriate treatment, resulting in a research disaster with unethical incidentsRead MoreEthical Principles Of The Tuskegee Study1665 Words   |  7 PagesEthical principles were established to help protect the human population from being unlawfully treated when involved in any type of treatment, research study, or medical decision-making. Miss Evers’ Boys provide examples, to how ethical principles were neglected to be used throughout the study. The Tuskegee study lasted a brutal 40 years and ethical principles where pushed aside, to obtain the evolution of syphilis in African American males. Anyone who is involved in some type of medical treatmentRead MoreThe Tuskegee Study Essay1454 Words   |  6 PagesPresident Clinton in 1997 apologized for the harm caused by what might be called as America’s most notorious medical experiments, ‘The Tuskegee Study’ saying â€Å"The legacy of the study at Tuskegee has reached far and deep, in ways that hurt our progress and divides our nation. We cannot be one America when a whole segment of our nation has no trust in America. An apology is the first step, and we take it with a commitment to rebuild that broken trust. We can begin by making sure there is never againRead MoreEthical Issues in Modern Medicine1094 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿ Ethical Issues in Modern Medicine Introduction When it comes to the Guatemalan syphilis experiment and the Tuskegee experiment both were two unique experiments. Recently, the United States apologized last year for the experiment, done in Tuskegee which was meant to test the drug penicillin. However, Two years before that, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius made an apology for the experiment conducted in Guatemala. With that said, the researcher rejects the case that a utilitarianRead MoreTuskegee : Turmoil And Torture1733 Words   |  7 PagesWilliam Walker Phil 250 Ethics in Science/Engineering Professor Beltz 12/12/2015 Tuskegee: Turmoil and Torture The Tuskegee study is one of the most useful situations when examining ethical decisions in science. Most useful because of the unethical decisions made and the justifications for them. The study spanned several decades and many decisions throughout can be examined with an ethical approach. The Tuskegee study was focused on patients who had contracted the disease syphilis. Syphilis at theRead MoreEthics And Research. In 1932 The American Government Conducted1362 Words   |  6 Pagesconducted a study named the Tuskegee Syphilis study, this project was administered by the US Health in Macon County, Alabama. The Government promises 600 plus African American citizens access to free medication and access to proper health care. This study subjects was all tested positive for Syphilis when they enrolled for the study. However, these subjects were denied medicine and were experimented on to help the Government to better understand the Syphilis virus. The men in this study weren’t a wareRead MoreThe Tuskegee Syphilis Research Study Essay845 Words   |  4 Pagesthe study? 3.) In your opinion, how should the data be used that is obtained from an unethical experiment and how can we prevent this from happening again? 4.) Discuss the code of ethics as it relates to this study? 5.) What are your personal thoughts on the ethical standards exhibited through this study? The Tuskegee Syphilis Research Study Any research like the Tuskegee Syphilis Research Study could not be conducted today. There are many reasons as to why this type of research study cannotRead MoreThe Tuskegee Study, Obedience, And The Stanford Prison Experiment1638 Words   |  7 Pagesis not the case in our world today. We are constantly faced with ethical issues in our profession and everyday life. Although we would like to believe that people always do the right thing that is not the case. This reality hits us in cases like the Tuskegee study, the obedience to authority study, and the Stanford prison experiment. The Tuskegee study is a prime example of why ethical treatment is necessary. This study took place in 1932 and dealt with African Americans who had contracted Syphilis