Pros And Cons Of Tuskegee Experiment
The Ethical Dilemma Surrounding the Experiment
Ethical Pros and Cons Ethical Pros Human research, as mentioned previously, is necessary for medical progress and expansion of health care. Without research, many of the findings and advances in medicine would not exist today. In the case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, the USPHS conducted the experiment to increase in knowledge about the syphilis infection and ways to improve and provide treatment/cures for those who were infected. The intent was to determine if African Americans and Caucasian Americans shared similar effects to syphilis. Some researchers strongly believe that in order to obtain accurate and precise information, subjects must be deceived and given little to no information …show more content…
The researchers did not contemplate the idea that the men were spreading the disease to the community, eventually causing a rise in the number of people infected. I believe that community health teaching and prevention should have taken place to raise awareness about syphilis. The men should have been informed about penicillin and they should have never been denied access to penicillin. With deep contemplation, the question of why African Americans and not any other race is asked. The experiment, if comparing the effects syphilis has on one race to the other, should have gathered two groups—one African American group and one Caucasian American group--that are a part of the experiment. This raises questions about racism and hierarchy. Furthermore, I believe there should have been an IRB in place to ensure that the researchers were following protocol and treating the human subjects as they would a patient seeking medical care. To conclude, The American Medical Association [AMA] (2012) developed a provision that emphasizes the important of an investigator conducting a clinical investigation to uphold the same concern and caution for the well-being, safety, and comfort of the individual involved in the study as they would for those patients who are not involved in the study and seeking medical care (Baillie et al., 2013). The lawsuit was fair in exploiting the study and apologizing to the many families that suffered the truth about this experiment. As stated before, “the mere increase of human knowledge is not a sufficient justification when there are risks involved… Knowledge is never superior to the dignity of the individual human being” (Baillie et al.,
Ethical Pros and Cons Ethical Pros Human research, as mentioned previously, is necessary for medical progress and expansion of health care. Without research, many of the findings and advances in medicine would not exist today. In the case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, the USPHS conducted the experiment to increase in knowledge about the syphilis infection and ways to improve and provide treatment/cures for those who were infected. The intent was to determine if African Americans and Caucasian Americans shared similar effects to syphilis. Some researchers strongly believe that in order to obtain accurate and precise information, subjects must be deceived and given little to no information …show more content…
The researchers did not contemplate the idea that the men were spreading the disease to the community, eventually causing a rise in the number of people infected. I believe that community health teaching and prevention should have taken place to raise awareness about syphilis. The men should have been informed about penicillin and they should have never been denied access to penicillin. With deep contemplation, the question of why African Americans and not any other race is asked. The experiment, if comparing the effects syphilis has on one race to the other, should have gathered two groups—one African American group and one Caucasian American group--that are a part of the experiment. This raises questions about racism and hierarchy. Furthermore, I believe there should have been an IRB in place to ensure that the researchers were following protocol and treating the human subjects as they would a patient seeking medical care. To conclude, The American Medical Association [AMA] (2012) developed a provision that emphasizes the important of an investigator conducting a clinical investigation to uphold the same concern and caution for the well-being, safety, and comfort of the individual involved in the study as they would for those patients who are not involved in the study and seeking medical care (Baillie et al., 2013). The lawsuit was fair in exploiting the study and apologizing to the many families that suffered the truth about this experiment. As stated before, “the mere increase of human knowledge is not a sufficient justification when there are risks involved… Knowledge is never superior to the dignity of the individual human being” (Baillie et al.,