For 40 years, public health professionals violated their solemn medical oath (“To do no harm”). They conducted research known as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study in Macon County, Alabama, on the campus of Tuskegee Institute, that was eventually found to be “ethically unjustified.”
The experiment started in 1932 when the Public Health Service, in conjunction with Tuskegee Institute, conducted research to study the natural progression of syphilis titled the ‘Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male.’
As you are likely to know already, syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease and is particularly nasty. No-one would volunteer to suffer this disease for science.
THE DECEIT:
None of the Black males in the study, or their families, were informed of the true nature or purpose of the study. Researchers lied and told them they were being treated for “bad blood.” There was no treatment! In exchange for their participation, the participants received “free medical exams, free meals, and burial insurance.” How conveniently generous?
The study enrolled 600 men, 399 had syphilis and the 201 who did not, were the ‘control subjects.’ Most were illiterate and poor sharecroppers. In 1932, there was no cure or effective treatment for syphilis, but in 1947 the antibiotic penicillin became the standard treatment. This actual cure for syphilis was withheld from both groups in the study. Withheld! Published reports clearly showed the men with syphilis were dying at a rate faster than those uninfected, an indication to stop the research and administer treatment. Still, the experiment continued and treatment not given for another 25 years.
As per Wikipedia on the History of Syphilis:
In the 1960s, Peter Buxtun sent a letter to the CDC, who controlled the study, expressing concern about the ethics of letting hundreds of black men die of a disease that could be cured. The CDC asserted that it needed to continue the study until all of the men were dead. In 1972, Buxton went to the mainstream press.
Associated Press broke the story of the experiment that let not only Black men die of a then curable disease, but watched as they infected their wives, offsprings and an untold number of others with syphilis. Think about that, the US Public Health Service, the CDC stood by and knowingly watched Black men, women, and children infect each other and die from a disease that was not only entirely curable but preventable. They observed the spread of syphilis within the community to other men and women, who then gave birth to children with congenital syphilis.
Just muse on that thought.
A subsequent investigation concluded the study was “ethically unjustified.” While the men participated freely, they were MISinformed and never given appropriate treatment for syphilis. As part of a class-action settlement, free medical and burial services were provided to survivors of the study, their wives, widows, and children. The Centers of Diseases Control and Prevention continues to administer the program through The Tuskegee Health Benefit Program. The monetary settlement included $37,500 to living participants with syphilis, while heirs of the control group got $5,000.
This study demonstrated once again the exploitation and the appalling abuse of human rights of Blacks by the US government. Were any criminal charges brought against anyone involved in the experiment? Did anyone lose his medical license? Or were any health professionals sued? A sum of $37,500, medical care and an apology on May 16, 1997, by Bill Clinton, seem like an incentive to continue such exploitation.
What’s the worse that can happen? A slap on the wrist.
Bill Clinton Apologizes for Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment
About the USPHS Syphilis Study
Public Accountability and the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments: A Restorative Justice Approach
Stigma remains for Tuskegee Syphilis Study descendants.
Well, it found its continuation here:
„And advanced forms of biological warfare that can “target” specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool.“ from Sept. 2000, “Rebuilding America´s Defenses”
https://de.scribd.com/doc/9651/Rebuilding-Americas-Defenses-PNAC
See: “A Reminder: Neocon Think Tanks and Fascism – Zur Erinnerung: Neocon Think Tanks und Faschismus”: https://wipokuli.wordpress.com/2017/06/29/a-reminder-neocon-think-tanks-and-fascism-zur-erinnerung-neocon-think-tanks-und-faschismus/
Cordial Sunday regards
Hi Andreas, I remember when I first heard about targeting genotypes it was in the setting of cancer treatment. Never imagined it used for biological warfare.
You know this kind of terror has no limit. You could weaponize common illnesses or insects to target specific groups or even individuals. To think it’s used now without our knowledge.
Thanks for sharing both links. They’re good. It’ll take a while to read the first.
Dear Angela, indeed it´s worrysome. I went into deep when the last Ebola epidemic broke out:
„Ebola: Pandora´s Box Opened Since Long?“ http://wipokuli.wordpress.com/2014/11/12/ebola-pandoras-box-opened-since-long/
Monday hugs
Yeah Ebola was suspicious. What struck me was how the CDC responded early on. It seemed as if they were intentionally stoking fear by not providing information. I could tell from reading the news it was not airborne but CDC let Americans believe it could be for longer than was necessary.
Do you think Africa has become one big lab for the west?
I remember writing a poem that referenced various atrocities and this situation came up. Those so-called doctors who did these experiments set the archetype for devils like Dr. Mengele. Seeing the whole details of the Tuskegee experiment make me nauseous. I was even surprised that it got referenced on an episode of Black-ish of all things when I briefly caught a glimpse of it at work in the break room years ago. When will all these wrongs be made right?
I don’t think the majority of white people feel any wrong was done. Many even think the torture they inflicted on AAs was to make us civilized like them. The other atrocities are so deeply buried when information about them surface they seem fake since many, including AAs, have never heard about them.
Then I’m reminded that miracles do occur every day.
I see. I personally haven’t talked to many White people about the Tuskeegee experiment, so I haven’t had any firsthand experience on the matter. When I do bring up different things, some people freak out or feel apathetic. You’re absolutely right about information being buried and AAs don’t even know everything. Shoot, I’m still learning things long after the fact.
Precisely. It does feel great when people actually listen about these struggles.
Listening is a start. We don’t have the luxury of time. Everyone will need to choose sides. To remain neutral is to select the status quo where most reside.
It’s tough to read this stuff and not have it affect your day. Most people don’t want to deal with this, so ignorance is bliss. I get it.
Yes, and you’re right about it. I do have to find out more things I know that I care about and mentioning. It’s tough because I’ve been silenced so many times throughout my life (tone policing being a big one and being bullied). I have to stand up for myself even more now.
That’s true on so many levels. There’s a feeling of duality where I get angry with learning about sobering facts, but there is also a cerebral emancipation knowing that I know more and can tell others.
40 years of abuse! Is that what gringo Trump meant when he said: “Make America great again”?
This is so sick! And sickening!
Yeah, how is this NOT considered abuse by mainstream society? This act would sicken even third world dictators if they knew about it. There’s just so much history people aren’t informing others about.
Yup Trump knows the white man’s heart and plays very well to it.
Thank you for posting! 🙂 http://www.cchomeschoolers.com/blog