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Tuskegee Study Violations

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A study known as "The Tuskegee Study" S. (2015, July 31) was conducted for forty years (U.S. Public Health, 2017), on the progression of untreated Syphilis in the African American population. It was believed that their bodies were inferior to whites and that the disease would act differently in their bodies. This author feels that the study was unnecessary, heartbreaking and unethical. The Belmont Report lists "respect for others, beneficence, and justice" (Protections, O. F.,2016) as the essentials of ethics. All of these aspects were violated during the Tuskegee Study. Two specific areas that these men were denied where the respect for persons through autonomy and beneficence. As medical professionals, we vow to "do no harm." These …show more content…

The Belmont Report states "that persons with diminished autonomy are entitled to protection." (Protections, O. F.,2016.) The men that were part of "The Tuskegee Study" lacked the knowledge to understand their situation and medical needs. This author feels that they may not have lacked the capacity to understand but that they never were given the opportunity to understand because they were never taught on their level. All patients have the right to have their medical information provided to them in terms that they can understand. Nurses are supposed to be patient advocates and we must advocate and assist in educating our patients. This is so important since many patients are their own caretakers and need to have the knowledge and tools to care for …show more content…

The Belmont Study says that a goal of beneficence is to "maximize possible harms" (Protections, O. F.,2016.) The Tuskegee Study only worried about the benefits that they thought they were going to learn from their research. The harms of the study were life-threatening and caused death for many of the patients. The supporters of the study could argue that without the study they would not have gathered data on the progression of Syphilis on a person's organs as it progresses. Also, upon death, an autopsy could be performed to see the total damage from the untreated disease. All of these arguments were made in the film "Miss Evers' Boys" (S.,2015 .) Overall, none of these things are relevant since the disease never has to progress to this point. These patients could have been cured and whenever treatment became readily available it should have been offered. In conclusion, this author strongly opposed "The Tuskegee Study." These men were not treated as humans with rights and their health was not made a priority to the medical professional carrying for them. The data on the progression of Syphilis was not worth what it cost to so many men. It is a shame that a medical study was promoted in such an unethical manner and that these men trusted the treatment that was being provided. Nursing is an honor and a trusted role that should be treated as such in all of our

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This experiment, conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service, was intent to study the natural progression of syphilis in African American male population. The study participants voluntarily participated in the study but the researchers did not properly inform the participants on the availability of treatment or the risks of the disease if untreated. To make the matter worse, the participants were deliberately led to believe that they were receiving treatment from the Public Health Service for free, while the actual treatment was being withheld to achieve the purpose of the research. In today’s point of view, it is surprising that even the federal agency did not respect the dignity of human rights for the sake of research. In Henrietta’s era, even the federal agency did not follow the proper informed consent procedure, and a prestigious institution like John’s Hopkins did not have any regulations or office such as Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) to govern their research protocols to protect human subjects and their rights.

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The John Hopkins Hospital was not the only place that violated people with color in this way. A study was done in Macon County, Alabama with black male patients who had syphilis. This study was designed to find out a history

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Around the 1900s, doctors’ experimentation on their patients that involved their consent had raised little concern. Between 1920 and 1930, Syphilis was a crucial health problem. Healthcare was offered to people who earned low incomes in the South. African Americans were normally low-income citizens in the South and they were not perceived equal to whites. They were prone to have more health problems.

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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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I personally would not have condoned the study if I was a nurse in the 1930s and was asked to be involved. As a nurse, I could not subject someone to a medical condition knowing that they would not receive treatment and eventually pass away. It is our responsibility as nurses to assist patients in recovering, not to exacerbate their illness. Another study that violated ethical standards was the Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital Study of 1962–1963 was unethical because Chester M. Southam, the supervising physician, gave live cancer cells without the patients' written agreement to twenty-two chronically sick, non-cancer patients. By saying that he "did not wish to stir up any unnecessary anxieties in the patients" who had "phobia and ignorance" about cancer, Southam sought to defend his conduct (not telling his patients).

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Nature.com stated that the number of scientific output (or the number of scientific papers that researchers publish) double every nine years (Nature.com). This may not seem like a lot, but there are thousands upon thousands of researchers that are constantly producing new content. With the amount of research scientists are producing, it is necessary to remind scientists (and future scientists) that we cannot go back to the times when Henrietta was alive, nor should we repeat horrible studies such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, where 600 men were experimented on in exchange for burial insurance and food (CDC). The Tuskegee Study lasted for 40 years, and even after penicillin was discovered, the men were not given any treatment (CDC). Experiments just like this one could still happen today, but with books like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, people can see what happens to the people in the experiment.

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It has now been a quarter of a century, and yet the images and heartache that still evolve when the words "Tuskegee Syphilis Study" are brought up, still haunts people around the world and touches upon many professionals such as social workers, medical examiners, and so forth. Sometimes people hear about this disgusting human experiment in a highly visible way directed to the entire country as an example of what we as a country and people, in general, should not do. This occurred when the study first made national news in 1972, when President Clinton offered a formal apology, or when Hollywood actors star in a fictionalized television movie of the story. On the other hand the audience may become fainter: kept alive only by memories and stories told in the African American community, in queries that circulate over the world wide web and radio talk shows, or even in courses such as this one being taught by social workers, historians, sociologists, or bioethicists. This is neither the first nor the last unethical human experiment done under the human study for the medical purposes umbrella, basically stating it is ok to sacrifice a few people in the name of medical research.

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The purpose of that experiment was to understand the progression of syphilis over human body. However, the experiment involved six hundred black men, this disease infected 301 of them and

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The Belmont Report was written to protect human subjects in research studies. This report led to the creation of the Institutional Review Board Guidebook, which was last updated in 1993 (IRB Guidebook, 1993). Protection for human subjects began with the Nuremberg Code when judging the human experimentation done by the Nazis (IRB Guidebook, 1993). Other studies had been conducted using human subjects that led to the Belmont Report. One such unethical study is Johnson’s Monster Study that was conducted in 1939 on a group of orphans (Reynolds, 2003) that violated the Institutional Review Board guidelines, and should not be repeated.

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The study would ultimately prove that everyone, no matter the color of their skin, is equal when it comes to the disease of syphilis. The intention behind manipulating the men was not for the greater good of society, but instead was for the greater good of Dr. Brodus and Miss Evers. Although the actions of Dr. Brodus and Miss Evers prove to be unethical, I also find the actions to be unprofessional. Miss Evers should have informed the men of the severity of the disease, as well as how the disease is passed from one individual to another. They failed to inform their patients of many of the risks that came along with the disease.

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This study was referred to as the “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis

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