Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment Research Paper
Corey Davis
H 312 TR 12 Noon
Writing Assignment #1
April 17, 2011
The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment was started in the early 1930’s and continued on for over 40 years causing a great deal of physical and emotional health problems to thousands of black men and their families in Macon County, Georgia. Beneficence, according to The Belmont Report states, “Research involving human subjects should do no intentional harm, while maximizing possible benefits and minimizing possible harms, both to the individuals involved and to society at large” (National Institute of Health, 1979). The Beneficence Principle wants maximum benefits and minimum harm. The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment did the exact opposite of that. The government doctors of the US Public Health Service studied the maximum harm and minimum benefits of untreated syphilis. According to Taliaferro Clark, the founder of the experiment, “Macon County is a natural laboratory – a ready made situation. The rather low intelligence of the negro population, depressed economic conditions, and the very common promiscuous sexual relations, not only contribute to the spread of syphilis but also to the prevailing indifference with regard to treatment” (DiAnni, 1993). The government doctors studied patients with syphilis from the earliest of stages all the way to death, the …show more content…
As sad as it is to say, at the end of the experiment there were a few benefits, one being doctors now know the effects of syphilis on anybody, regardless of race or gender, if left untreated. Another benefit to come from this experiment would be ethics in Public Health and the treatment of human subjects and experiments. Without this experiment there would be no Belmont Report or Ethics Framework for Public Health in our
H 312 TR 12 Noon
Writing Assignment #1
April 17, 2011
The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment was started in the early 1930’s and continued on for over 40 years causing a great deal of physical and emotional health problems to thousands of black men and their families in Macon County, Georgia. Beneficence, according to The Belmont Report states, “Research involving human subjects should do no intentional harm, while maximizing possible benefits and minimizing possible harms, both to the individuals involved and to society at large” (National Institute of Health, 1979). The Beneficence Principle wants maximum benefits and minimum harm. The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment did the exact opposite of that. The government doctors of the US Public Health Service studied the maximum harm and minimum benefits of untreated syphilis. According to Taliaferro Clark, the founder of the experiment, “Macon County is a natural laboratory – a ready made situation. The rather low intelligence of the negro population, depressed economic conditions, and the very common promiscuous sexual relations, not only contribute to the spread of syphilis but also to the prevailing indifference with regard to treatment” (DiAnni, 1993). The government doctors studied patients with syphilis from the earliest of stages all the way to death, the …show more content…
As sad as it is to say, at the end of the experiment there were a few benefits, one being doctors now know the effects of syphilis on anybody, regardless of race or gender, if left untreated. Another benefit to come from this experiment would be ethics in Public Health and the treatment of human subjects and experiments. Without this experiment there would be no Belmont Report or Ethics Framework for Public Health in our