In the 25 years since the secrets of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment were revealed, it has become a powerful symbol of racism, medical miscount and the abuse of the vulnerable. The study, initially involved 600 black men, all whom were residents of Macon County, Alabama. The purpose of the study was to examine the progression of Syphilis among black males as it was left untreated. Before the test began the diseases causes and effects were well understood; and there was already a known cure “penicillin”. The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment was morally, legally, socially and politically wrong. This procedure was an endangerment against human nature. Ultimately this study harmed more people than it helped. Even though some people say that the data collected on all stages of syphilis ultimately helped more people that it harmed, the U.S government of the 1950’s acted with …show more content…
Doctors violated medical ethics stated in the Hippocratic Oath which states: In every house where I come, I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself far from all intentional ill-doing and all seduction and especially from the pleasures of love with women or men, be they free or slaves. “The physicians conducting the study merely observed and recorded the progress of the disease in the men.” (World Book). When Penicillin (the first real cure for syphilis) for syphilis was discovered the Tuskegee men were deliberately denied the medication. “She clarifies how PHS physician Raymond Vonderlehr learned in 1938 that previous treatment of as many as 40 percent of his study subjects would very likely negate the validity of any data he might collect about them.” (Reverby. 92). The doctors did not care about the well-being of the patients at all. One doctor explained; “as I see it, we have no further interest in these patients until they