Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment Essay

The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment is one of the most famous examples ofunethical research. The study, funded by the federal government from 1932-1972,looked at the effects of untreated syphilis. In order to do this, a number of Black men inAlabama who had syphilis were misinformed about their illness. They were told theyhad “bad blood” (which was sometimes a euphemism for syphilis, though not always)and that the government was offering special free treatments for the condition.The “special free treatment” was, in fact, nothing of the sort. The researchersconducted various examinations, including spinal taps, not to treat syphilis but just to seewhat its effects were. In fact, by the 1950s it was well established that a shot of penicillinwould fully cure early-stage syphilis. …show more content…
(Sharp, 2014)The social imagination of this research shows that at the time, this may have beensocially accepted as race was profound in 1932.In todays era, this would be such ataboo, that rioting would erupt and it would not be acceptable or aloud.We are in anequal status time era. Where blacks and whites socialize together, one is not seen asbeing above the other.Individuals today would view this study as unacceptable anddemeaning towards black people that they were outcasted and lied to. The actions of theresearchers were aloud to continue for 40 years and was finally ended at the hands of awhite reporter.The study ended with 78 blacks living, 28 died, 100 died of complications and 40wives were infected and 19 children were born with syphilis.This study was notconducted ethically, the individuals were never informed of the study, asked to sign aconsent, and were intentionally mislead about receiving