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Purpose Of The Tuskegee Syphilis Study

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Bioethics research studies are defined as studies that focus on the ethics and philosophical implications in medicine (Dictionary). The Tuskegee Syphilis Study is a prime example of a bioethical research that was ongoing from 1932 until 1972 at the Tuskegee Institute in Macon, Alabama. The United States Public Health Services (USPHS) and the Tuskegee Institute were responsible for carrying out the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. The sole purpose of the study was to monitor the effects syphilis has on the human body when allowed to go untreated. In the 21st century, an array of ethical, moral, and legal issues are identifiable within how The Tuskegee Study was conducted. The Tuskegee Study included six hundred participants of interest …show more content…

In 1927, the state of Alabama passed a law that required the reporting and treatment of venereal diseases (QQQ). The USPHS clearly violated this law by not reporting or treating the infected participants. One ethical approach the Tuskegee Syphilis Study violated was the Declaration of Helsinki of 1964. The Declaration of Helsinki addressed the wrongfulness of research by using human subjects, including research on identifiable human material and data (WMA). In the Tuskegee Study, the participants were wrongfully used as human subjects for forty years by being withheld curative treatment. Secondly, the physicians violated the International Code of Ethics throughout the entire Tuskegee Study. The International Code of Ethics states physicians are responsible for promoting the health, well-being, and rights of patients (WMA). Once Penicillin was found to cure syphilis, the physicians willingly allowed the participants to go untreated. As participants of the Tuskegee Study, they legally had the right to receive the curative treatment but did not. Additionally, the International Code of Ethics includes individuals who are involved in medical research. In the Tuskegee Study, the participants were never told they had syphilis and were purposefully withheld from receiving curative treatment. Additionally, the participants were coerced and did not consent to the conditions being carried out by …show more content…

The Belmont Report is now a required read for all participants involved in human research (ZZZ). The Belmont Report addresses three ethical principles for human research participants. One ethical principle is respect for the person. Respect for the person requires medical researchers to obtain informed consent from study participants. Additionally, the participants must be given accurate information about their circumstances and treatment options so they are allowed to decide what happens to them(ZZZ). A second ethical principle addressed is beneficence. The Belmont Report defines beneficence as all test subjects involved in research must be informed of all risk and benefits of treatment in which they agree to undergo (ZZZ). Thirdly, the ethical principle of justice is addressed in the Belmont Report. Justice includes individual justice and societal justice. The Belmont Report states individuals justice means the doctor or researcher are not allowed to administer potentially helpful treatments to a favored class while offering much riskier to others (ZZ). The societal justice maintains research participants are selected randomly and fairly and without consideration of the individuals social, gender, and economic class (ZZZ). The Belmont Report is one way the government aims to protect research

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In Tuskegee, Alabama a group of men were chosen for an experiment involving the observation of how syphilis occurs in black men and its long term non-treated consequences. At the time of the experiment, the only treatment that was available was a heavy metal therapy; however, the scientists believed it was doing more harm than good. Therefore, they did not inform the men about the treatment and distracted them with basic incentives like hot meals and transportation. When penicillin, a cure for syphilis, was discovered the doctors made the decision to shield the cure away from the men. This is proof that scientists are

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For many years, the creation of man-made medicine has gone through many trial and error, progress and complication. One major way in which medicine has thrived was through the form of experiments, some on animals, plants and humans. Unfortunately, certain medical experiments have had drastic consequences. The Tuskegee Experiment was a medical experiment used to study the long-term effects of syphilis of not treated. In 1932, the Public Health Service together with the Tuskegee Institute, began an experiment to record the long-term effects of syphilis which also became a strict medical treatment programs for blacks.

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The Tuskegee study of Untreated Syphilis began in 1932, mainly designed to determine the history of untreated latent syphilis on 600 African American men in Tuskegee, Alabama. 201 out of 600 men were non-syphilitic just unknowingly involved in the study as a control group This study is known to be “the most infamous biomedical research study in the U.S history”. Most of these men had never visited a doctor and they had no idea what illness they had. All of the men agreed to be a participant thinking they were being treated for “bad blood” and plus they were given free medical care and meals.

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This includes fairly distributing resources and time among all patients. During the Tuskegee Study, one can clearly see that these ethical principles

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