Primary Researchers
In 1929, the United States Public Health Service (USPHS), using a grant from the Julius Rosenwald Fund conducted studies in the rural south to determine the prevalence of syphilis in blacks (Tuskegee University, n.d.). In 1932, the USPHS with Chief Venereal Disease Specialist, Dr. Taliaferro Clark and Dr. Raymond Vonderlehr assembled a sample of black males in Macon County, Alabama to begin observations to determine possible mass treatment of the disease (National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis,STD and TB Prevention, 2013). In 1969, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) determined that the study should continue. Period of Research According to Tuskegee University, in 1932, the Public Health Service and Tuskegee Institute began to record the natural history of syphilis, “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male”. Initial observations were scheduled to last for six months. The study continued for 37 years unmonitored. In 1969, the Center for Disease Control determined that the study should continue even after scientists had determined the best treatment for syphilis was the use of penicillin. The study lasted a total of forty years (Tuskegee University, n.d.). Participants Initially 600 black males were recruited for the study. Of the 600 males, 399 were determined be to infected with syphilis while 201 were disease free (National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, 2013) . The majority of the participants were poor and illiterate sharecroppers from Macon County, Alabama. A research study by The Hastings Institute of Society, Ethics, and the Life Sciences noted that these men lack of social status was used to encourage them to participate in the study by promising them meals on test days, free medical care, and burial insurance (Brandt, 1978). Methods According to the Center for Disease Control and the Tuskegee Institute no informed consent was received from the participants. The participants were told that they were being treated for “bad blood” which was the term used for various ailments during that time period. The participants did not receive any actual treatment; they had numerous tests ran on them and were observed. The selection of men ranged in age from 25 – 60. The men were chosen through a physical exam, x-rays, and a spinal tap. There was never intent of treatment. Even after it had been discovered that penicillin was the best treatment the men were not notified. Results July 1972 the Associated Press completed a story on the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, which led to massive public outcry over the treatment of these men. A federal investigation determined that the men had been mislead and not given all the facts for an informed consent. It was noted in the investigation that penicillin had been available in 1947 was not made available to the men in the study (Tuskegee University, n.d.). Photos - Faces of Tuskegee |