Papers On The Tuskegee Experiment

The Tuskegee experiment was a mind blowing experiment conducted by the Public Health Service (PHS) which lasted forty-years. It took place between 1932 and 1972 in Tuskegee, Alabama. This experiment affected many African-American males who were basically used as human “guinea pigs” in order to follow the movement of Syphilis. According to Harry Reasoner, “they used human beings as laboratory animals in a long and inefficient study of how long it takes syphilis to kill someone.” (Harry Reasoner). These men were not informed of the seriousness of this disease and though they were being treated for having “bad blood”. (James H Jones). In doing so the U.S Public Health Services gathered 399 black males who were affected with the disease and 201
The symptoms of Syphilis are usually sores and rashes that can be found in the mouth or on the genitals. It can be transmitted through stage 1 or 2, which are the stages that the sores are usually present. Depending on the stage that the disease is in, some may even have little to no symptoms at all, while in the later/more dangerous stages others can possibly suffer from blindness or even paralysis. It is usually spread through direct contact with someone with the sore. This disease can also affect a woman’s pregnancy which can cause premature labor, underweight babies, and even a baby who is born dead. Syphilis can be diagnosed through a blood test or a physical examination. Even though this disease can be very severe if left untreated it can be cured, especially when it is in its early stage. Later stages can leave permanent damage to the body that is almost impossible to fix. (http://simplestdtesting.com). One of the most known ways to treat Syphilis, which was discovered in 1947, in the middle of the Tuskegee experiment, was Penicillin. This antibiotic was the most effective during that time however it was kept away from the men who were the
Although she died before she had the express her true feelings on her involvement with the Tuskegee experiment there was evidence of Rivers helping some of the men to get treatment before she left the study .You would think Eunice would have gained some credit for her effort, however she believed strongly that the benefits of the study to those innocent men outweighed the risks. According to Rivers,” This is the thing that really hurt me about the unfair publicity. Those people had been given better care than some of us who could afford it”. She also stated “those people got all kinds of examinations and medical care that they never would have gotten. I’ve taken them over to the hospital and they’d have a GI series on them, the heart, the lung, just everything. It was just impossible for just an ordinary person to get that kind of examination”. Rivers was convinced that despite the fact that these men were not receiving curative services they were still receiving good medical care and she has no regrets with her decisions. Along with her were physicians Dr. Taliaferro Clark and Dr. Oliver Wenger, who were also satisfy with their roles in this experiment. According to Dr. Clark,”