One of the most controversial biomedical research studies in the United States was the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Between 1932 and 1972, the United…

Question Answered step-by-step One of the most controversial biomedical research studies in the UnitedStates was the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Between 1932 and 1972, the United States Public Health Service, along with the health departments from six different states, conducted a clinical study to investigate the natural progression of untreated syphilis in rural African American men. Working in collaboration with Tuskegee University, a historically black college in Alabama, more than 600 impoverished African American sharecroppers from Macon County, Alabama, were recruited under the guise of receiving free medical services. Of the recruited men, 399 had contracted syphilis before the study began, and 201 did not have the disease. For participating in the study, these men were given free medical care, meals, and free burial insurance. However, none of the infected men were ever told they had the disease and never received treatment even though, by 1947, penicillin was found to be effective in treating syphilis. Local African American and white physicians were recruited to not treat the men in the study. Furthermore, these men were told that the study was going to last only 6 months, but it lasted 40 years. The study continued until 1972, when a whistleblower’s leak to the press resulted in its termination in that year. The African American men subjected to the study included numerous men who died of syphilis, 40 wives who contracted the disease, and 19 children born with congenital syphilis.The Tuskegee Syphilis Study brought up many ethical issues that had lasting effects even to the present time. The study highlighted issues of lack of informed consent and economic exploitation based on race and poverty. As a result of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, the federal government established the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, the Office for Human Research Protections, and the Behavioral Research and the National Research Act, which created the Institutional Review Boards that review the methods proposed for research to ensure that they are ethical and that the human subjects provide informed consent.In addition in 1973 the surviving patients sued and received a $10 million settlement, which was payable to patients and their more than 6000 heirs. Even though women were not included in the study, many women contracted syphilis from men who participated in the study’s syphilitic group. Thus, infected wives, ex-wives, widows, and offspring received lifetime medical and health benefits. -What kind of a difference would it have made in these men’s lives if they had participated with informed consent? -Why should the studies have been discontinued after the discovery of penicillin? -In the previous chapter we learned that ethical medical behavior should always be governed by the principles of autonomy, beneficence, and nonmaleficence. How did this study measure up to these three principles? -How fair do you think the settlements were? Health Science Science Nursing NRSG 2210 Share QuestionEmailCopy link Comments (0)