I have never heard of the Tuskegee experiment prior to watching this video. I find it shocking that I never learned about this in school. We often hear about all of the good aspects that have occurred in our American history class, but we never acknowledge much of the bad and dark parts of our history. I think that we, as Americans, need to be acknowledging and learning about all of our wrong doings in history in our schools. People often say that we need to prevent history from repeating itself by learning about it. What additionally shocked me about the video was that the Tuskegee experiment went on for forty years and the patients never received any treatment in that time. As we learned in class, ethical guidelines need to be met when conducting an experiment or observational study. It is very clear that in the Tuskegee experiment, many ethical requirements were not met. The most appalling and important ethical requirement not met was the protection of its subjects. Experiments and observational studies should not be harming the subjects and/or their families. The subjects additionally had no consent over their participation in the experiment and were not properly informed of what was happening to them. They were purposely mislead about receiving treatment numerous times. In the video, the sociologist said that a lot of the trust between African Americans and the U.S. government developed due to the misleading Tuskegee experiments. I completely understand why this would be. Though the experiment was horrific and never should have happened in the first place, it was an eye opener to the American people when it was exposed in the seventies. Ethical requirements became much more important and subjects became more aware of knowing exactly what they are participating in. We must fully educate ourselves and fully understand the intent and design of an experiment or observational study prior to participating in it. Check123
In my Psychology 110 class at ICC, we learned about a couple of experiments. However, I never learned about the Tuskegee Experiment which surprises me. Why would I not learn about one of the most horrific experiments in United States' history? When I took United States' history, we never discussed this experiment either. I cannot believe that the experiment took forty or so years. The experiment, in a nutshell, infected their test subjects with Syphilis, without healing them. They only tested African Americans and poor farmers. Since they were never healed, they of course went crazy and eventually passed away. The test subjects were never what they were injected with. There were four hundred test subjects all together. By the end of the study, only seventy-four people remained alive. Twenty-eight of them died of Syphilis, one-hundred of them died of related complications, over forty of their wives were also infected, and nineteen of their children were born with Syphilis. This is so horrific and saddening to me. How could the leaders of this study do this to people for forty years? This experiment clearly did not follow the ethical guidelines that we discussed in class. Protection of subjects was the guideline that was not followed the most. The subjects are also suppose to have an awareness. Meaning that they should know everything about the experiment, side effects, what is going to happen to them, and so forth. Nothing should be left out. Americans today travel to different countries to their unethical experiments now. They created a loophole so that they can conduct experiments that do not have to follow the guidelines in the United States. It is appalling to me that even the men's families were harmed as well. They did not protect their subjects or the subject's families. Before participating in an experiment, the conductor needs to explain the experiment so that everyone understands the design and even intent of the experiment they are partaking in. -softball_savvy123
I think there are many awful events that have happened in our history that are never brought to students attention at all. I have been in school and not once have I ever heard about this experiment. That is four full years of high school and then two full years of college that I have never heard this mentioned. I know it is impossible to cover every terrible event that has happened over time, however this happened here in America and I do not believe many people are familiar with it. This experiment is one of the worst experiments ever held that I have had brought to my knowledge. The number of people that were affected from this are very heartbreaking. Only 74 out of the 400 men infected survived. The fact that 400 black men were injected with this disease and never even knew is very unethical. It is almost hard to write about because I feel as if no words that I write can really give justice to how awful the entire event was. No consent was taken from any of the men and no help was given to these men at all. Even when a cure was found for the disease no help was given at all. The experiment went on even further to hurt women and children as well. The fact that this was funded by the U.S. government and took 40 years to come to an end is insane. Even once it was brought to everyone's attention all that was given was a public apology. I feel as if a public apology is not enough for the amount of harm that was done to these innocent men. The entire event that took place is very sad and morally wrong. We often hear about these horrific events that took place around the world not in America. It is strange that we are not educated on many of the awful events that took place right here. Litv123
This was the first time I had ever heard of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment and I am absolutely shocked. I do not understand how something this horrible could occur in the United States, let alone for forty years. It surprised me even more when the cure for Syphilis was out in the open and these "doctors" were still injecting these black men with a sexually transmitted disease to see how it would affect them, when they knew these men would suffer. How could anyone in the right mind be okay with such an experiment and such a horrible disease. This really makes me question the health field and some of the people that are doctors. We are suppose to see these people as people we can trust to find what is wrong with us and help us in the best possible way that they can. This experiment broke so many rules of sociology I don't even know where to start. In all research studies, technical competence and fair-mindedness, full inclusion and disclosure, protection of subjects, informed consent, funding source disclosure, and cultural sensitivity are all essential in the conducting of an experiment. None of these guidelines were met in the Tuskegee experiment. The people that were in the experiment didn't even know it. This sounds like something out of a horrible movie but to think it actually happened is very scary. These people were driven past insanity just for the results for an experiment. They treated these African American men like they weren't even people. The fact that they gave this disease to their wives and children makes me so angry. So many people died for no reason. I believe things like this should never be able to happen and I am also amazed it went 40 years without anyone knowing it. I do think we learned from the aftermath of this experiment and put ethical requirements in place so this would never happen again. Scuba123
I knew nothing about the Tuskegee Experiment before today. The more I learn about it the more horrified I am. The fact that people thought that Syphilis effects African Americans differently than it effects Caucasians is ridiculous, and is a clear representation on what was going on in the South in the 1930’s. Let’s count the way these people were lied to. One, they were told that it was going to last six months when it lasted 40 years. Two, they were never told that it was a study, or what the purpose of the study was. Three, they were told that they were being given a treatment for “bad blood”, when in fact they were not being treated for anything. Some of the men were even unknowingly injected with syphilis and obviously without their consent. They were never told about the penicillin as an easy way of treating syphilis, and were led to believe that they could not leave the study that they didn’t even know they were in. A disease investigator in San Francisco found out about the Tuskegee study and reported it as unethical to his superiors. His superiors then had a panel discussion on it and decided to allow it to continue until all of the subjects had passed away. Going against his superiors he leaked the story to Jean Heller who brought light on the situation in 1972. By the time that the study was known to the general public, 28 had died from syphilis, 100 died from complications of syphilis, 40 spouses had been given the disease, and 19 children had been born with it. The fact that this study lasted as long as it did is absolutely atrocious. The fact that someone can do this to another person is disheartening for human kind. This entire study should have never happened because of the thought that black people would be affected differently than whites. sunflower123
As I watched this video, I started remembering that I heard something like this a long time ago. I think I either heard it taught or I read it, but I just didn't know the details. Even with that said, I have never heard of this inhumane event. I feel like their human rights were violated ten times over. For every experiment on human subjects, you need to have that persons permission. They need to be informed on what exactly is going to be done to them. The person's family need to be informed as well, especially the spouse. On top of that, why would you need 400 men? If they weren't planning on treating the injected disease, and since the people injecting already knew the disease, why would they put 400 people at risk? Whoever injected these men with the disease, if they were doctors, they should have had their medical license revoked, and they should have been charged with attempted murder. These people knew the disease, after seeing the results of this madness, they still didn't move a finger to treat it, and the vast majority died from it. This whole experiment should have never been started, just the thought of doing something like that just because of the different skin color is absolutely repulsive and inhumane. In any experiment or study, the subjects being experimented on should be willing to do it, they should be informed of side effects, and they should especially be treated if the experiment goes wrong. We need to have love, respect, and compassion for human life. panda123
In all the years of life experiences and schooling I have had over the years, I have never heard of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. I am amazed at how atrocious and horrific something like this could have happened here in the United States. Back in the early 1930’s an experiment was done to over 400 African American men and farmers without disclosing what was really going on. The subjects were injected with a dose of Syphilis without their knowledge. This experiment went on for over forty years before the public people were informed about it. Even after that, it was kept quite and not talked about. As I have stated above in all the history classes I have had I have never heard of this experiment. The subjects were observed because it was thought that African American men had different effects of being introduced to Syphilis than white men. So the subjects were infected without their knowledge. This is a huge ethological situation that never should have happened. First the test subjects were never told that they were being infected with the disease. Next, when performing an experiment on a person or persons their health should never be at risk. Even after a cure for Syphilis had been discovered they were not allowed to receive the cure. Since the cure was kept from them many had died from the disease. Not only death but many of the subjects went crazy because of the disease, and since they were never told what they had they passed it on to their wives and children. Even though this is a horrific part of the United States history it still needs to be taught to the people. Just like the holocaust is part of Germany’s history, this is part of ours. We need to be informed so something like this never happens again. We need to learn from our mistakes no matter big or small, and this is a huge one. This actually makes me not proud to be an American, but it is part of my history. Diver 123
After watching this video I think the Tuskegee experiment is a necessary part of sociology curriculum because it demonstrates effect of unethical behavior. The effect of this experiment helps instill in the researcher the importance of patient disclosure. The man in the video argues that if only the experimenters would have given the proper information to the participants this would not have been so unethical. The experimenters could still have been able to perform the experiment if there had been full patient disclosure. In the confines of this particular experiment participants knowing what the experiment is about is not going to affect the outcome of the experiment, so there was really no need to keep this information from the participants. Participants of the Zimbardo experiments may have been able to get over the trauma they experienced, but the Tuskegee experiment hurt the wives and children of over 400 men. It seems crazy to me that these doctors could watch these men and their families suffer for 40 years without feeling remorse. This experiment was still being conducted in the early 1970s which is less than 50 years ago. The man at the end of the video also says “Stop trusting everybody” it’s unethical treatment such as this that makes people wary of participating in medical or sociological studies. Researchers don’t want that so they must treat their participants with great care in order to eliminate this distrust. The video pointed out that this experiment led to a distrust of doctors among black men even today. The man at the end of the video also points out that he never learned about the Tuskegee experiment in his history class and I agree with him. We were taught about the Milgram and the Zimbardo experiments, but we never were taught about the cruel treatment of these black men. Glass123
Hideous is the first word used to describe this experiment, and I completely agree. This project was a lie from the start, promising the participants free health care. Well what's the point of free health care if your experiment is going to kill all of them? The scientists were testing to see if syphilis affected black people differently from white people. They lied about healing them so that they can see how the disease would affect them. The men would then suffer greatly and die. No one was honest with the patients, they didn’t even know they had syphilis, what? That should be the first thing out of the doctor's mouth when it comes to this. Even when a cure for the disease came around, the doctors still continues this awful experiment on these poor people. By the end of this test, only seventy-four men (Out of four-hundred) had survived the painful trip. Twenty-eight died from the disease, one-hundred died from related complications, and even the wives were dying. Over forty of them caught the disease and died as well. Nineteen kids were born from this who had syphilis due to the genetics the dad was passing on. After forty years, this hell came to an end after the a reporter exposed them. Her headline was posted on the front page news and word spread fast, quickly putting this test to an end. In the 90’s it was brought up again in the form of an apology, an apology for something that is still haunting some families today. Just goes to show how selfish some people can be for “research”. Something that really bothers me about this project is the fact that it's hardly even reasearch, their just making people painfully sick for nothing. This is just another experiment that turns my stomach into one big knot.
Hideous is the first word used to describe this experiment, and I completely agree. This project was a lie from the start, promising the participants free health care. Well what's the point of free health care if your experiment is going to kill all of them? The scientists were testing to see if syphilis affected black people differently from white people. They lied about healing them so that they can see how the disease would affect them. The men would then suffer greatly and die. No one was honest with the patients, they didn’t even know they had syphilis, what? That should be the first thing out of the doctor's mouth when it comes to this. Even when a cure for the disease came around, the doctors still continues this awful experiment on these poor people. By the end of this test, only seventy-four men (Out of four-hundred) had survived the painful trip. Twenty-eight died from the disease, one-hundred died from related complications, and even the wives were dying. Over forty of them caught the disease and died as well. Nineteen kids were born from this who had syphilis due to the genetics the dad was passing on. After forty years, this hell came to an end after the a reporter exposed them. Her headline was posted on the front page news and word spread fast, quickly putting this test to an end. In the 90’s it was brought up again in the form of an apology, an apology for something that is still haunting some families today. Just goes to show how selfish some people can be for “research”. Something that really bothers me about this project is the fact that it's hardly even reasearch, their just making people painfully sick for nothing. This is just another experiment that turns my stomach into one big knot. rosethorns123
In 1932, the Tuskegee Syphilis experiment was given to exactly 400 African American service men to see how the disease would react in African Americans only. They were promised free health care and free hot meals. Researchers wanted to know the long-term effect of Syphilis. Syphilis has four stages. In 1940 Penicillin came along but the African Americans were still prevented a cure. The Tuskegee Syphilis experiment lasted well over 40 years when it was only supposed to last for 6 months. At the end of the study which ended in 1972, 28 deaths were linked to syphilis, 100 deaths due to related issues, 40 of their wives were infected, and 19 children were born with congenital syphilis. They denied the men that were trying to sign up for the military with syphilis, but they didn’t tell them it was called syphilis it was known as “bad blood”. President Bill Clinton made a public apology to the United States Americans for the Tuskegee experiment. This experiment caused emotional wounds. The black men were used as test dummies without their knowledge and consent. It was only done to African American men. Here it is people are being injected with diseases that if left untreated could kill you. Who were the researchers comparing this study too? Why was the African American men the only ones injected with syphilis and went untreated? This experiment is considered inhuman. None of the African American men gave consent or even knew that this experiment was being conducted. Those men rights were taken away from them. Not only did it effect the men, but it effected their family as well. I wonder why did the experiment last for so many years when Penicillin was the cure? As of today, syphilis has no cure. I have sympathy for those men and their families who had to endure such pain from knowing each one of them were deceived. Rendezvous123
I sat in disbelief as I watched this video. I could not believe that something so horrendous could have gone on for so long, and in the country I live in. It is hard to believe how recent this experiment was, ending 45 years ago. My parents were alive during this. There are many conflicts this experiment could have had with the advancement of the societies within the United States. How is there supposed to be progress in the abolishment of slavery and with racism as a whole when things like this happen? Experiments like this rightly lead to a lack of trust. African Americans have been mistreated in the United States for centuries, and allowing it to occur in an experiment put on by the United States’ Public Health Service is criminal! This experiment was wrong for so many reasons. It was far from ethical. These African Americans were deceived and used. They were treated as, “guinea pigs,” to be tested on. This experiment not only took a toll on the men who were experimented on, but also some of their wives and children. I cannot believe that there may be people now who were born with syphilis because of the United States Government. Our country can only hope that African Americans will accept the apology given, and that there really has been change is the regards to ethics in experiments. -M&M
The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment is one of the most shocking events in history. My first thought when reading about this was why they had to test 400 men and not a lower number of people. Although, I don’t think this should have been done at all. I find it sickening that they told the men they would get free healthcare when they knew very well that there was a great chance they wouldn’t survive. This is targeting a group of vulnerable people because they all were “desperately poor sharecroppers” so they would most likely love to receive free healthcare. It is completely wrong to withhold information from the group, especially information that is vital to their health and well-being. Also, knowing that penicillin would cure these men and withholding it from them all the way up until the point of death is evil. It also completely goes against the point of the experiment which was to see how this disease progressed in African Americans. Once the men were at a point where they were dying, the researchers should have seen and collected enough data to understand their theory better, and cured them. To think that only 74 men survived until the end of the study is very sad. The study should have ended way sooner when the first man died. I hope that researchers have learned not to even conduct any type of experiment that may cause death, unless the group is told all of the honest affects and still willingly agrees to it. This experiment caused deaths outside of the planned group that was tested on. I think that the American health association should have been punished since they caused wives and their children to die or be infected.They never agreed to be a part of any of it. I was shocked to hear that the public didn’t know of this until 40 years. One single reporter decided to tell an honest story and everyone saw how wrong it was. This is why sociologists need to protect the people they’re studying. They should be the focus but in a positive way. It makes me wonder what the society was like and if the experiment would have even happened if there weren’t racial issues because today I could never imagine anyone allowing this experiment to happen just to see how a disease affected an African American, especially if a cure already exists. -Kiwi123
I was not familiar with the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment prior to watching this video, although I do vaguely recall hearing it mentioned in one of my history classes in high school. Nevertheless, it shows just how far the prejudice of race has transcended since the dawn of the United States of America in 1776. Mind you the experiment itself didn't actually end, or get shut down for that matter, until 1972, a great number of years after the abolishing of slavery in the United States. African Americans and African Americans only were targeted for this experiment showing clearly the divide between race still existing in America from 1932 to 1972, and continuing after that even. The worst part of it all is that were other African American people that were in on the study and did next to nothing to try to stop the decaying of lives by those being injected with the Syphilis. I am both shocked and appalled that this experiment was able to stand the test of time for forty years. That's twice as long as I've been alive! In other words, that's a really long time! The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment can also teach us a very valuable lesson about the ever existing prejudice among races that still exists in America today. Although it may not seem as prominent as it once was, black lives are still in great danger presently due to the media inaccurately portraying the lives and dangers of being an African American in modern day America. I ultimately came away from this video with an even better understanding of just how far the barriers of race have transcended through the decades and centuries in America, and unfortunately it is a battle we will still be fighting for years to come. Here's hoping for a change.....-MrG123
Before watching this video, I had never heard of the Tuskegee experiment. What happened was truly horrific. The purpose of the experiment was to document the progression of syphilis in black men. It was believed, at this point in time, that syphilis effected black men differently than white men. These men were injected with syphilis without their knowledge, and told that they had contracted a disease called "bad blood" disease. They were made to believe they were undergoing treatment for this so called "bad blood" disease, however they were not receiving any treatment. When I first heard this, I assumed all the scientists involved were white males, but black doctors were also involved in this unethical experiment. Of the original 400, 74 lived, 28 died from syphilis, and 100 died from other complications during the experiment. 40 of these mens' wives were then infected with this STD, and 19 children were born with syphilis without knowing. These African American men never gave their consent to be apart of this experiment, and were falsely given information about their disease and treatment. The worst part is, penicillin was a known cure for syphilis towards the end of this 40 year experiment. To put this time period in perspective, my mother was 9 years old when this horrendous experiment was finally exposed by Gene Hiller, a young white female reporter. The effects of this experiment are still felt today, as it has led to the distrust of the American Medical Association by African Americans. More recently, President Clinton publicly apologized for this experiment in 1997, almost 25 years after the experiment was put to a stop. This experiment should be taught in classrooms before students reach of college level. Citizens of our country should acknowledge this experiment as a part of American history so change can happen and we can stop any unethical experiments like this from happening again. Daisy123
Watching the video on the tuskegee experiment is sickening. Those men were going to their doctors with complete trust and the doctors outright lied to them about everything. I can not fathom how someone could watch their patient suffer and agonize when they had a simple cure that would heal them. This is such a major historical crime, so I am at a loss as to how I have not ever heard of this in my life. Even more shocking is that this experiment was so recent. It was not exposed until 1972 when a reporter named Jean Heller thankfully published an article in the newspaper revealing the wrongdoing. This experiment broke every single one of the American Sociological Association’s guidelines for conducting research. They lied to the men about everything they were doing, they in no way protected the men but instead did the complete opposite, and they did not pay the men because the men did not even know they were in a study. I am stumped as to how the government did not catch that this experiment was not following the regulations. I think that this experiment needs to be disclosed, because from seeing other students comments not a lot of people have heard of it before. Unfortunately, our society’s treatment of black and white people is not equal yet. It is important that people are aware of the past harm that has occurred between people. Unfortunately, our society’s treatment of black and white people is not equal yet. A more extensive knowledge of this experiment could help this slowly diminishing line between the black and white people by allowing white people to see another one of the horrible things they have done to black people. If this experiment is not covered in high school classes then many people will remain unaware of the horror that occurred. -Chameleon123
The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment was unethical in every way. The basis for the experiment was that the scientists wanted to know how syphilis would affect black men when left untreated. None of these men gave consent to the experiment beforehand and were just injected by white doctors with the disease. The men being experimented on were basically guinea pigs, being told nothing and being treated as if they were animals. Deception was the key to this experiment, and even black doctors were in on the experiment, keeping the patients from proper treatment and giving them false diagnoses. Syphilis ended up affecting all aspects of the men’s lives. Their wives ended up contracting the sexually transmitted disease, and many of their children were born with the horrible disease. Many of the men eventually went insane due to their syphilis being left untreated, and they died due to their poor mental state from one reason or another. During their lives, syphilis became treatable, and the disease was commonly and effectively treated with penicillin. However, the researchers continued to keep the patients in the dark the whole time. They did not know they had been injected with the disease, and therefore, never knew to seek treatment for syphilis, even though effective treatments were known and available. This is completely unethical. They shaped the patients’ lives into one big experiment, and a human life is one of those things that cannot rationally be manipulated like that. It broke human rights to free will because the patients had no say and no idea of the experiment as a whole. People need to be informed if they are to participate in a study. They need an extensive briefing on what will happen and the repercussions of the study. This information was never given to the patients. After the results are concluded and the experiment is over, it is the experimenters’ ethical responsibility to return the patients to the same or a better state than they were before. The experimenters did no such thing and ruined these men’s lives. aardvark123
After watching this video this will be the first time i have heard about the tuskegee syphilis experiment. What they did to these people were wrong and foul for not telling them all the details about the experiment. They conducted the experiment by misleading the subjects in order to get them to continue cooperating, the correct way of conducting an experiment is to tell the subjects what they are doling and why you are there. They can disagree and ot want to participate anymore, which is ok. The next thing you have to do is tell them if you are getting paid for the experiment or not. Then you need to make sure that they are going to remain safe the entire time throughout your research. The tuskegee syphilis experiment did not do any of this they infected many african american males and watched them suffer. Maybe some got a kick out of it but it is wrong. They didn't bother to try and correct their wrong doins from my understanding they just continued on with their day like nothing happened. I find it really ironic that they only tested this on african americans and not white due to the fact african american react differently. I don't understand this logic the only thing different between the two is skin color. I'm not going to turn this into a racial conflict but i feel like there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. Like why african americans, why not hispanics or asians? Why lie to the subjects? Why watch them suffer? Why hurt so many men for a experiment? These are some of the questions that come to mind after watching this video. Some people never seem to realize that in order to feels someone else's pain you need to put yourself in their shoes and that exactly what these researchers did not do. Dancer123
I find it interesting that this was another one of the things I have never been taught in school before. This experiment is deeply disturbing and horrific and you would think that would call people to teach about this.The goal of the experiment was to document the progression of syphilis in black men. The researchers decided to find a group of black men and infect them with syphilis and tell them they were getting treated. They targeted over 400 black men that were very poor. The men were never told they had syphilis. Instead, they were told they had ‘bad blood’. The disorders and symptoms these men had to suffer through were charted by scientists to see if syphilis progressed more in black men than in white men. Even when there was a known cure for syphilis, the men and their families were still suffering. Only 74 subjects lived. 40 of the wives of these men were infected and 19 of their children were born with congenital syphilis. This didn’t end until 1942. 1942! This was when the experiment was exposed by reporter Gene Heller. Former president Bill Clinton issued a public apology for the experiment at a news conference. The Director of Disease Control also spoke about how wrong the study was and why it was wrong. He ended with speaking of the new beginnings the United States will soon come across. While it is nice and dandy that he is so so sorry that they did that to those men, some of the emotional wounds won’t heal from this. Men died for this experiment they didn’t sign up for. Today, there are black individuals that don’t trust public healthcare - and for a good reason! The United States government financially backed and supported tricking people into being in a study that can affect you, your wife and your children. I am appalled at the study. -SAS123
If I had to pick a word to describe this awful experiment, it would be ‘sickening.’ When I first heard about the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment I simple could not believe it; it sounded like something Nazi Germany or communistic Japan would have tried to torture people in World War II. However, on the other hand, it really actually is not all that surprising considering that eugenics was being taught in many settings and a lot of people, both young and old, were buying into it. If eugenics is ethical, then why not inject syphilis into some four hundred black farmers? What do they really have to contribute to society anyway? All they do is breed more farmers who would never be able to rise above their current place in society because there was little to no chance of upward mobility for African Americans at the time this experiment took place. From an ethical standpoint, this experiment did not appear to have a moral compass. Even from the beginning, their experiment relied on deceit. Purposefully lying to those they were injecting by saying they had “bad blood”, the experimenters obviously never had any intention of curing those infected. Even when penicillin became readily available as well as the standard means of preventing and curing syphilis, the experimenters still did not attempt to cure any of the participants. This experiment not only had an effect on those directly involved, but also affected the subjects wives and even their children. It absolutely sickens me to think that a group of men purposefully deceived and abused a group of participants without ever taking the time to truly consider the severe repercussions their study would have on the generations to come. Unethical experiments still continue today, mostly in the form of clinical trials for drugs. When drugs are sent overseas for testing, many issues arise. One issue is that informed consent is not even really an option in poorer companies. If someone offers you $15 to take a red pill when you have not even had food in three days, you are going to take the red pill regardless of what side-effects may come about because of it. -ThreeTwo123
What compels a person to willingly agree to receiving “bad blood”? Was it pure ignorance, fear of letting white people down? Did they bribe them with monetary earnings knowing their grave fate just to get them to say yes? What enables people to knowingly and willingly administer a devastating disease into an African American with no remorse just to see how it affects the African American men. The researchers definitely did not iron out all of the details prior to going live with this research because they not only did not have the subject at heart but they did not stop and think of how it could have negatively affected the members of his family. What would happen to the families if their main bread winner was taken out of the picture? Nor did they consider the spread of this disease within the family. Bringing a disease into a community that causes chaos and wreaks havoc not only towards the individual but towards the whole family, is callous. Furthermore, it sickens me to no end to know that some of the African American men switched up to be on the opposing side and completely turned their back against their fellow African Americans. It reminds me of a saying “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything”. It seems that there was no real culture in the individuals that willingly turned their back against their people. Another concern I have was why was this a 40-year long research? How can people just allow an individual to suffer knowing that they can cure them before it is too late and before the side effects cannot be reversed? There were so many unethical issues with this research, that it should have never been allowed to see the light of day. This research shows how such heinous acts can manifest itself into something horrific and it also shows people that not everyone is to be trusted, that you have to question everything that comes to you and may possibly have an effect on any part of your life. Benoodles 123
I have never heard of the Tuskegee experiment prior to watching this video. I find it shocking that I never learned about this in school. We often hear about all of the good aspects that have occurred in our American history class, but we never acknowledge much of the bad and dark parts of our history. I think that we, as Americans, need to be acknowledging and learning about all of our wrong doings in history in our schools. People often say that we need to prevent history from repeating itself by learning about it. What additionally shocked me about the video was that the Tuskegee experiment went on for forty years and the patients never received any treatment in that time. As we learned in class, ethical guidelines need to be met when conducting an experiment or observational study. It is very clear that in the Tuskegee experiment, many ethical requirements were not met. The most appalling and important ethical requirement not met was the protection of its subjects. Experiments and observational studies should not be harming the subjects and/or their families. The subjects additionally had no consent over their participation in the experiment and were not properly informed of what was happening to them. They were purposely mislead about receiving treatment numerous times. In the video, the sociologist said that a lot of the trust between African Americans and the U.S. government developed due to the misleading Tuskegee experiments. I completely understand why this would be. Though the experiment was horrific and never should have happened in the first place, it was an eye opener to the American people when it was exposed in the seventies. Ethical requirements became much more important and subjects became more aware of knowing exactly what they are participating in. We must fully educate ourselves and fully understand the intent and design of an experiment or observational study prior to participating in it. Check123
ReplyDeleteIn my Psychology 110 class at ICC, we learned about a couple of experiments. However, I never learned about the Tuskegee Experiment which surprises me. Why would I not learn about one of the most horrific experiments in United States' history? When I took United States' history, we never discussed this experiment either. I cannot believe that the experiment took forty or so years. The experiment, in a nutshell, infected their test subjects with Syphilis, without healing them. They only tested African Americans and poor farmers. Since they were never healed, they of course went crazy and eventually passed away. The test subjects were never what they were injected with. There were four hundred test subjects all together. By the end of the study, only seventy-four people remained alive. Twenty-eight of them died of Syphilis, one-hundred of them died of related complications, over forty of their wives were also infected, and nineteen of their children were born with Syphilis. This is so horrific and saddening to me. How could the leaders of this study do this to people for forty years? This experiment clearly did not follow the ethical guidelines that we discussed in class. Protection of subjects was the guideline that was not followed the most. The subjects are also suppose to have an awareness. Meaning that they should know everything about the experiment, side effects, what is going to happen to them, and so forth. Nothing should be left out. Americans today travel to different countries to their unethical experiments now. They created a loophole so that they can conduct experiments that do not have to follow the guidelines in the United States. It is appalling to me that even the men's families were harmed as well. They did not protect their subjects or the subject's families. Before participating in an experiment, the conductor needs to explain the experiment so that everyone understands the design and even intent of the experiment they are partaking in.
ReplyDelete-softball_savvy123
I think there are many awful events that have happened in our history that are never brought to students attention at all. I have been in school and not once have I ever heard about this experiment. That is four full years of high school and then two full years of college that I have never heard this mentioned. I know it is impossible to cover every terrible event that has happened over time, however this happened here in America and I do not believe many people are familiar with it. This experiment is one of the worst experiments ever held that I have had brought to my knowledge. The number of people that were affected from this are very heartbreaking. Only 74 out of the 400 men infected survived. The fact that 400 black men were injected with this disease and never even knew is very unethical. It is almost hard to write about because I feel as if no words that I write can really give justice to how awful the entire event was. No consent was taken from any of the men and no help was given to these men at all. Even when a cure was found for the disease no help was given at all. The experiment went on even further to hurt women and children as well. The fact that this was funded by the U.S. government and took 40 years to come to an end is insane. Even once it was brought to everyone's attention all that was given was a public apology. I feel as if a public apology is not enough for the amount of harm that was done to these innocent men. The entire event that took place is very sad and morally wrong. We often hear about these horrific events that took place around the world not in America. It is strange that we are not educated on many of the awful events that took place right here. Litv123
ReplyDeleteThis was the first time I had ever heard of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment and I am absolutely shocked. I do not understand how something this horrible could occur in the United States, let alone for forty years. It surprised me even more when the cure for Syphilis was out in the open and these "doctors" were still injecting these black men with a sexually transmitted disease to see how it would affect them, when they knew these men would suffer. How could anyone in the right mind be okay with such an experiment and such a horrible disease. This really makes me question the health field and some of the people that are doctors. We are suppose to see these people as people we can trust to find what is wrong with us and help us in the best possible way that they can. This experiment broke so many rules of sociology I don't even know where to start. In all research studies, technical competence and fair-mindedness, full inclusion and disclosure, protection of subjects, informed consent, funding source disclosure, and cultural sensitivity are all essential in the conducting of an experiment. None of these guidelines were met in the Tuskegee experiment. The people that were in the experiment didn't even know it. This sounds like something out of a horrible movie but to think it actually happened is very scary. These people were driven past insanity just for the results for an experiment. They treated these African American men like they weren't even people. The fact that they gave this disease to their wives and children makes me so angry. So many people died for no reason. I believe things like this should never be able to happen and I am also amazed it went 40 years without anyone knowing it. I do think we learned from the aftermath of this experiment and put ethical requirements in place so this would never happen again. Scuba123
ReplyDeleteI knew nothing about the Tuskegee Experiment before today. The more I learn about it the more horrified I am. The fact that people thought that Syphilis effects African Americans differently than it effects Caucasians is ridiculous, and is a clear representation on what was going on in the South in the 1930’s. Let’s count the way these people were lied to. One, they were told that it was going to last six months when it lasted 40 years. Two, they were never told that it was a study, or what the purpose of the study was. Three, they were told that they were being given a treatment for “bad blood”, when in fact they were not being treated for anything. Some of the men were even unknowingly injected with syphilis and obviously without their consent. They were never told about the penicillin as an easy way of treating syphilis, and were led to believe that they could not leave the study that they didn’t even know they were in. A disease investigator in San Francisco found out about the Tuskegee study and reported it as unethical to his superiors. His superiors then had a panel discussion on it and decided to allow it to continue until all of the subjects had passed away. Going against his superiors he leaked the story to Jean Heller who brought light on the situation in 1972. By the time that the study was known to the general public, 28 had died from syphilis, 100 died from complications of syphilis, 40 spouses had been given the disease, and 19 children had been born with it. The fact that this study lasted as long as it did is absolutely atrocious. The fact that someone can do this to another person is disheartening for human kind. This entire study should have never happened because of the thought that black people would be affected differently than whites.
ReplyDeletesunflower123
As I watched this video, I started remembering that I heard something like this a long time ago. I think I either heard it taught or I read it, but I just didn't know the details. Even with that said, I have never heard of this inhumane event. I feel like their human rights were violated ten times over. For every experiment on human subjects, you need to have that persons permission. They need to be informed on what exactly is going to be done to them. The person's family need to be informed as well, especially the spouse. On top of that, why would you need 400 men? If they weren't planning on treating the injected disease, and since the people injecting already knew the disease, why would they put 400 people at risk? Whoever injected these men with the disease, if they were doctors, they should have had their medical license revoked, and they should have been charged with attempted murder. These people knew the disease, after seeing the results of this madness, they still didn't move a finger to treat it, and the vast majority died from it. This whole experiment should have never been started, just the thought of doing something like that just because of the different skin color is absolutely repulsive and inhumane. In any experiment or study, the subjects being experimented on should be willing to do it, they should be informed of side effects, and they should especially be treated if the experiment goes wrong. We need to have love, respect, and compassion for human life.
ReplyDeletepanda123
In all the years of life experiences and schooling I have had over the years, I have never heard of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. I am amazed at how atrocious and horrific something like this could have happened here in the United States. Back in the early 1930’s an experiment was done to over 400 African American men and farmers without disclosing what was really going on. The subjects were injected with a dose of Syphilis without their knowledge. This experiment went on for over forty years before the public people were informed about it. Even after that, it was kept quite and not talked about. As I have stated above in all the history classes I have had I have never heard of this experiment. The subjects were observed because it was thought that African American men had different effects of being introduced to Syphilis than white men. So the subjects were infected without their knowledge. This is a huge ethological situation that never should have happened. First the test subjects were never told that they were being infected with the disease. Next, when performing an experiment on a person or persons their health should never be at risk. Even after a cure for Syphilis had been discovered they were not allowed to receive the cure. Since the cure was kept from them many had died from the disease. Not only death but many of the subjects went crazy because of the disease, and since they were never told what they had they passed it on to their wives and children. Even though this is a horrific part of the United States history it still needs to be taught to the people. Just like the holocaust is part of Germany’s history, this is part of ours. We need to be informed so something like this never happens again. We need to learn from our mistakes no matter big or small, and this is a huge one. This actually makes me not proud to be an American, but it is part of my history. Diver 123
ReplyDeleteAfter watching this video I think the Tuskegee experiment is a necessary part of sociology curriculum because it demonstrates effect of unethical behavior. The effect of this experiment helps instill in the researcher the importance of patient disclosure. The man in the video argues that if only the experimenters would have given the proper information to the participants this would not have been so unethical. The experimenters could still have been able to perform the experiment if there had been full patient disclosure. In the confines of this particular experiment participants knowing what the experiment is about is not going to affect the outcome of the experiment, so there was really no need to keep this information from the participants. Participants of the Zimbardo experiments may have been able to get over the trauma they experienced, but the Tuskegee experiment hurt the wives and children of over 400 men. It seems crazy to me that these doctors could watch these men and their families suffer for 40 years without feeling remorse. This experiment was still being conducted in the early 1970s which is less than 50 years ago. The man at the end of the video also says “Stop trusting everybody” it’s unethical treatment such as this that makes people wary of participating in medical or sociological studies. Researchers don’t want that so they must treat their participants with great care in order to eliminate this distrust. The video pointed out that this experiment led to a distrust of doctors among black men even today. The man at the end of the video also points out that he never learned about the Tuskegee experiment in his history class and I agree with him. We were taught about the Milgram and the Zimbardo experiments, but we never were taught about the cruel treatment of these black men. Glass123
ReplyDeleteHideous is the first word used to describe this experiment, and I completely agree. This project was a lie from the start, promising the participants free health care. Well what's the point of free health care if your experiment is going to kill all of them? The scientists were testing to see if syphilis affected black people differently from white people. They lied about healing them so that they can see how the disease would affect them. The men would then suffer greatly and die. No one was honest with the patients, they didn’t even know they had syphilis, what? That should be the first thing out of the doctor's mouth when it comes to this. Even when a cure for the disease came around, the doctors still continues this awful experiment on these poor people. By the end of this test, only seventy-four men (Out of four-hundred) had survived the painful trip. Twenty-eight died from the disease, one-hundred died from related complications, and even the wives were dying. Over forty of them caught the disease and died as well. Nineteen kids were born from this who had syphilis due to the genetics the dad was passing on. After forty years, this hell came to an end after the a reporter exposed them. Her headline was posted on the front page news and word spread fast, quickly putting this test to an end. In the 90’s it was brought up again in the form of an apology, an apology for something that is still haunting some families today. Just goes to show how selfish some people can be for “research”. Something that really bothers me about this project is the fact that it's hardly even reasearch, their just making people painfully sick for nothing. This is just another experiment that turns my stomach into one big knot.
ReplyDeleteHideous is the first word used to describe this experiment, and I completely agree. This project was a lie from the start, promising the participants free health care. Well what's the point of free health care if your experiment is going to kill all of them? The scientists were testing to see if syphilis affected black people differently from white people. They lied about healing them so that they can see how the disease would affect them. The men would then suffer greatly and die. No one was honest with the patients, they didn’t even know they had syphilis, what? That should be the first thing out of the doctor's mouth when it comes to this. Even when a cure for the disease came around, the doctors still continues this awful experiment on these poor people. By the end of this test, only seventy-four men (Out of four-hundred) had survived the painful trip. Twenty-eight died from the disease, one-hundred died from related complications, and even the wives were dying. Over forty of them caught the disease and died as well. Nineteen kids were born from this who had syphilis due to the genetics the dad was passing on. After forty years, this hell came to an end after the a reporter exposed them. Her headline was posted on the front page news and word spread fast, quickly putting this test to an end. In the 90’s it was brought up again in the form of an apology, an apology for something that is still haunting some families today. Just goes to show how selfish some people can be for “research”. Something that really bothers me about this project is the fact that it's hardly even reasearch, their just making people painfully sick for nothing. This is just another experiment that turns my stomach into one big knot.
Deleterosethorns123
In 1932, the Tuskegee Syphilis experiment was given to exactly 400 African American service men to see how the disease would react in African Americans only. They were promised free health care and free hot meals. Researchers wanted to know the long-term effect of Syphilis. Syphilis has four stages. In 1940 Penicillin came along but the African Americans were still prevented a cure. The Tuskegee Syphilis experiment lasted well over 40 years when it was only supposed to last for 6 months. At the end of the study which ended in 1972, 28 deaths were linked to syphilis, 100 deaths due to related issues, 40 of their wives were infected, and 19 children were born with congenital syphilis. They denied the men that were trying to sign up for the military with syphilis, but they didn’t tell them it was called syphilis it was known as “bad blood”. President Bill Clinton made a public apology to the United States Americans for the Tuskegee experiment. This experiment caused emotional wounds. The black men were used as test dummies without their knowledge and consent. It was only done to African American men. Here it is people are being injected with diseases that if left untreated could kill you. Who were the researchers comparing this study too? Why was the African American men the only ones injected with syphilis and went untreated? This experiment is considered inhuman. None of the African American men gave consent or even knew that this experiment was being conducted. Those men rights were taken away from them. Not only did it effect the men, but it effected their family as well. I wonder why did the experiment last for so many years when Penicillin was the cure? As of today, syphilis has no cure. I have sympathy for those men and their families who had to endure such pain from knowing each one of them were deceived. Rendezvous123
ReplyDeleteI sat in disbelief as I watched this video. I could not believe that something so horrendous could have gone on for so long, and in the country I live in. It is hard to believe how recent this experiment was, ending 45 years ago. My parents were alive during this. There are many conflicts this experiment could have had with the advancement of the societies within the United States. How is there supposed to be progress in the abolishment of slavery and with racism as a whole when things like this happen? Experiments like this rightly lead to a lack of trust. African Americans have been mistreated in the United States for centuries, and allowing it to occur in an experiment put on by the United States’ Public Health Service is criminal! This experiment was wrong for so many reasons. It was far from ethical. These African Americans were deceived and used. They were treated as, “guinea pigs,” to be tested on. This experiment not only took a toll on the men who were experimented on, but also some of their wives and children. I cannot believe that there may be people now who were born with syphilis because of the United States Government. Our country can only hope that African Americans will accept the apology given, and that there really has been change is the regards to ethics in experiments.
ReplyDelete-M&M
The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment is one of the most shocking events in history. My first thought when reading about this was why they had to test 400 men and not a lower number of people. Although, I don’t think this should have been done at all. I find it sickening that they told the men they would get free healthcare when they knew very well that there was a great chance they wouldn’t survive. This is targeting a group of vulnerable people because they all were “desperately poor sharecroppers” so they would most likely love to receive free healthcare. It is completely wrong to withhold information from the group, especially information that is vital to their health and well-being. Also, knowing that penicillin would cure these men and withholding it from them all the way up until the point of death is evil. It also completely goes against the point of the experiment which was to see how this disease progressed in African Americans. Once the men were at a point where they were dying, the researchers should have seen and collected enough data to understand their theory better, and cured them. To think that only 74 men survived until the end of the study is very sad. The study should have ended way sooner when the first man died. I hope that researchers have learned not to even conduct any type of experiment that may cause death, unless the group is told all of the honest affects and still willingly agrees to it. This experiment caused deaths outside of the planned group that was tested on. I think that the American health association should have been punished since they caused wives and their children to die or be infected.They never agreed to be a part of any of it. I was shocked to hear that the public didn’t know of this until 40 years. One single reporter decided to tell an honest story and everyone saw how wrong it was. This is why sociologists need to protect the people they’re studying. They should be the focus but in a positive way. It makes me wonder what the society was like and if the experiment would have even happened if there weren’t racial issues because today I could never imagine anyone allowing this experiment to happen just to see how a disease affected an African American, especially if a cure already exists. -Kiwi123
ReplyDeleteI was not familiar with the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment prior to watching this video, although I do vaguely recall hearing it mentioned in one of my history classes in high school. Nevertheless, it shows just how far the prejudice of race has transcended since the dawn of the United States of America in 1776. Mind you the experiment itself didn't actually end, or get shut down for that matter, until 1972, a great number of years after the abolishing of slavery in the United States. African Americans and African Americans only were targeted for this experiment showing clearly the divide between race still existing in America from 1932 to 1972, and continuing after that even. The worst part of it all is that were other African American people that were in on the study and did next to nothing to try to stop the decaying of lives by those being injected with the Syphilis. I am both shocked and appalled that this experiment was able to stand the test of time for forty years. That's twice as long as I've been alive! In other words, that's a really long time! The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment can also teach us a very valuable lesson about the ever existing prejudice among races that still exists in America today. Although it may not seem as prominent as it once was, black lives are still in great danger presently due to the media inaccurately portraying the lives and dangers of being an African American in modern day America. I ultimately came away from this video with an even better understanding of just how far the barriers of race have transcended through the decades and centuries in America, and unfortunately it is a battle we will still be fighting for years to come. Here's hoping for a change.....-MrG123
ReplyDeleteBefore watching this video, I had never heard of the Tuskegee experiment. What happened was truly horrific. The purpose of the experiment was to document the progression of syphilis in black men. It was believed, at this point in time, that syphilis effected black men differently than white men. These men were injected with syphilis without their knowledge, and told that they had contracted a disease called "bad blood" disease. They were made to believe they were undergoing treatment for this so called "bad blood" disease, however they were not receiving any treatment. When I first heard this, I assumed all the scientists involved were white males, but black doctors were also involved in this unethical experiment. Of the original 400, 74 lived, 28 died from syphilis, and 100 died from other complications during the experiment. 40 of these mens' wives were then infected with this STD, and 19 children were born with syphilis without knowing. These African American men never gave their consent to be apart of this experiment, and were falsely given information about their disease and treatment. The worst part is, penicillin was a known cure for syphilis towards the end of this 40 year experiment. To put this time period in perspective, my mother was 9 years old when this horrendous experiment was finally exposed by Gene Hiller, a young white female reporter. The effects of this experiment are still felt today, as it has led to the distrust of the American Medical Association by African Americans. More recently, President Clinton publicly apologized for this experiment in 1997, almost 25 years after the experiment was put to a stop. This experiment should be taught in classrooms before students reach of college level. Citizens of our country should acknowledge this experiment as a part of American history so change can happen and we can stop any unethical experiments like this from happening again. Daisy123
ReplyDeleteWatching the video on the tuskegee experiment is sickening. Those men were going to their doctors with complete trust and the doctors outright lied to them about everything. I can not fathom how someone could watch their patient suffer and agonize when they had a simple cure that would heal them. This is such a major historical crime, so I am at a loss as to how I have not ever heard of this in my life. Even more shocking is that this experiment was so recent. It was not exposed until 1972 when a reporter named Jean Heller thankfully published an article in the newspaper revealing the wrongdoing. This experiment broke every single one of the American Sociological Association’s guidelines for conducting research. They lied to the men about everything they were doing, they in no way protected the men but instead did the complete opposite, and they did not pay the men because the men did not even know they were in a study. I am stumped as to how the government did not catch that this experiment was not following the regulations. I think that this experiment needs to be disclosed, because from seeing other students comments not a lot of people have heard of it before. Unfortunately, our society’s treatment of black and white people is not equal yet. It is important that people are aware of the past harm that has occurred between people. Unfortunately, our society’s treatment of black and white people is not equal yet. A more extensive knowledge of this experiment could help this slowly diminishing line between the black and white people by allowing white people to see another one of the horrible things they have done to black people. If this experiment is not covered in high school classes then many people will remain unaware of the horror that occurred. -Chameleon123
ReplyDeleteThe Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment was unethical in every way. The basis for the experiment was that the scientists wanted to know how syphilis would affect black men when left untreated. None of these men gave consent to the experiment beforehand and were just injected by white doctors with the disease. The men being experimented on were basically guinea pigs, being told nothing and being treated as if they were animals. Deception was the key to this experiment, and even black doctors were in on the experiment, keeping the patients from proper treatment and giving them false diagnoses. Syphilis ended up affecting all aspects of the men’s lives. Their wives ended up contracting the sexually transmitted disease, and many of their children were born with the horrible disease. Many of the men eventually went insane due to their syphilis being left untreated, and they died due to their poor mental state from one reason or another. During their lives, syphilis became treatable, and the disease was commonly and effectively treated with penicillin. However, the researchers continued to keep the patients in the dark the whole time. They did not know they had been injected with the disease, and therefore, never knew to seek treatment for syphilis, even though effective treatments were known and available. This is completely unethical. They shaped the patients’ lives into one big experiment, and a human life is one of those things that cannot rationally be manipulated like that. It broke human rights to free will because the patients had no say and no idea of the experiment as a whole. People need to be informed if they are to participate in a study. They need an extensive briefing on what will happen and the repercussions of the study. This information was never given to the patients. After the results are concluded and the experiment is over, it is the experimenters’ ethical responsibility to return the patients to the same or a better state than they were before. The experimenters did no such thing and ruined these men’s lives. aardvark123
ReplyDeleteAfter watching this video this will be the first time i have heard about the tuskegee syphilis experiment. What they did to these people were wrong and foul for not telling them all the details about the experiment. They conducted the experiment by misleading the subjects in order to get them to continue cooperating, the correct way of conducting an experiment is to tell the subjects what they are doling and why you are there. They can disagree and ot want to participate anymore, which is ok. The next thing you have to do is tell them if you are getting paid for the experiment or not. Then you need to make sure that they are going to remain safe the entire time throughout your research. The tuskegee syphilis experiment did not do any of this they infected many african american males and watched them suffer. Maybe some got a kick out of it but it is wrong. They didn't bother to try and correct their wrong doins from my understanding they just continued on with their day like nothing happened. I find it really ironic that they only tested this on african americans and not white due to the fact african american react differently. I don't understand this logic the only thing different between the two is skin color. I'm not going to turn this into a racial conflict but i feel like there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. Like why african americans, why not hispanics or asians? Why lie to the subjects? Why watch them suffer? Why hurt so many men for a experiment? These are some of the questions that come to mind after watching this video. Some people never seem to realize that in order to feels someone else's pain you need to put yourself in their shoes and that exactly what these researchers did not do. Dancer123
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that this was another one of the things I have never been taught in school before. This experiment is deeply disturbing and horrific and you would think that would call people to teach about this.The goal of the experiment was to document the progression of syphilis in black men. The researchers decided to find a group of black men and infect them with syphilis and tell them they were getting treated. They targeted over 400 black men that were very poor. The men were never told they had syphilis. Instead, they were told they had ‘bad blood’. The disorders and symptoms these men had to suffer through were charted by scientists to see if syphilis progressed more in black men than in white men. Even when there was a known cure for syphilis, the men and their families were still suffering. Only 74 subjects lived. 40 of the wives of these men were infected and 19 of their children were born with congenital syphilis. This didn’t end until 1942. 1942! This was when the experiment was exposed by reporter Gene Heller. Former president Bill Clinton issued a public apology for the experiment at a news conference. The Director of Disease Control also spoke about how wrong the study was and why it was wrong. He ended with speaking of the new beginnings the United States will soon come across. While it is nice and dandy that he is so so sorry that they did that to those men, some of the emotional wounds won’t heal from this. Men died for this experiment they didn’t sign up for. Today, there are black individuals that don’t trust public healthcare - and for a good reason! The United States government financially backed and supported tricking people into being in a study that can affect you, your wife and your children. I am appalled at the study. -SAS123
ReplyDeleteIf I had to pick a word to describe this awful experiment, it would be ‘sickening.’ When I first heard about the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment I simple could not believe it; it sounded like something Nazi Germany or communistic Japan would have tried to torture people in World War II. However, on the other hand, it really actually is not all that surprising considering that eugenics was being taught in many settings and a lot of people, both young and old, were buying into it. If eugenics is ethical, then why not inject syphilis into some four hundred black farmers? What do they really have to contribute to society anyway? All they do is breed more farmers who would never be able to rise above their current place in society because there was little to no chance of upward mobility for African Americans at the time this experiment took place.
ReplyDeleteFrom an ethical standpoint, this experiment did not appear to have a moral compass. Even from the beginning, their experiment relied on deceit. Purposefully lying to those they were injecting by saying they had “bad blood”, the experimenters obviously never had any intention of curing those infected. Even when penicillin became readily available as well as the standard means of preventing and curing syphilis, the experimenters still did not attempt to cure any of the participants. This experiment not only had an effect on those directly involved, but also affected the subjects wives and even their children. It absolutely sickens me to think that a group of men purposefully deceived and abused a group of participants without ever taking the time to truly consider the severe repercussions their study would have on the generations to come.
Unethical experiments still continue today, mostly in the form of clinical trials for drugs. When drugs are sent overseas for testing, many issues arise. One issue is that informed consent is not even really an option in poorer companies. If someone offers you $15 to take a red pill when you have not even had food in three days, you are going to take the red pill regardless of what side-effects may come about because of it.
-ThreeTwo123
What compels a person to willingly agree to receiving “bad blood”? Was it pure ignorance, fear of letting white people down? Did they bribe them with monetary earnings knowing their grave fate just to get them to say yes? What enables people to knowingly and willingly administer a devastating disease into an African American with no remorse just to see how it affects the African American men. The researchers definitely did not iron out all of the details prior to going live with this research because they not only did not have the subject at heart but they did not stop and think of how it could have negatively affected the members of his family. What would happen to the families if their main bread winner was taken out of the picture? Nor did they consider the spread of this disease within the family. Bringing a disease into a community that causes chaos and wreaks havoc not only towards the individual but towards the whole family, is callous. Furthermore, it sickens me to no end to know that some of the African American men switched up to be on the opposing side and completely turned their back against their fellow African Americans. It reminds me of a saying “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything”. It seems that there was no real culture in the individuals that willingly turned their back against their people. Another concern I have was why was this a 40-year long research? How can people just allow an individual to suffer knowing that they can cure them before it is too late and before the side effects cannot be reversed? There were so many unethical issues with this research, that it should have never been allowed to see the light of day. This research shows how such heinous acts can manifest itself into something horrific and it also shows people that not everyone is to be trusted, that you have to question everything that comes to you and may possibly have an effect on any part of your life. Benoodles 123
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