Tuskegee Syphilis Study

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study is an ethical dilemma that happened decades ago, but it is still an issue that I find very disturbing. Over the span of 40 years, men in Tuskegee who had syphilis were told they would be given treatment by a group medical staff. The medical staff put them through a lot of painful and unnecessary treatments. They were never told that these were placebos and that these treatments would not help their syphilis. Many of the men died as their illness got progressively worse.

This practice was occurring amongst African American men who had syphilis. The researchers wanted to study the effects of this illness if it goes untreated. The patients were not told that there was currently a cure for syphilis. Yet the researchers put them through several harmful acts. One can assume they chose these men because they lived in rural areas and the chances of them finding out there was a cure for syphilis were lessened.

These acts and this study took place for 40 years before it was ended. It is hard to understand how this was allowed to happen for so long. Many of the patients died when their deaths could have been prevented with a simple procedure of receiving penicillin. It is unbelievable and unethical that this happened to these men. Most of the patients were African American and impoverished men in a rural community. As a result of this study, many African Americans have been afraid to participate in studies believing it will become a repeat of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Health care morass took place in the African American community in which they lost trust in the health care system.

There were several ethical principles that were not taken into account during this study. These principles include beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. The leaders in this study did not display any moral values as well. They did not have any compassion for the patients or conscientiousness. They were not fair or honest either. These are just a few of the ethical issues that occurred during this study and do not include any legal issues. It saddens me to know that health care leaders and researchers did not stop this and many men lost their lives for no reason.