The Tuskegee Syphilis Study

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study Experimentations on humans have always been met with some degree of suspicion in America. Yet, history recalls several incidents which implicated well –established agencies that have been involved. One such embarrassing incident took place at Tuskegee. This is the story of “Miss Evers Boys.” It has come to symbolize racism in medicine, ethical misconduct in human research, paternalism by physicians and government abuse of vulnerable people. The South did not fare well during the depression of the 1930s. In fact, it resembled an underdeveloped nation. The people, both black and white, were extremely poor, less educated than most Americans and they remained mostly rural in nature. It was apparent that money was hard to “come by.” As a group, African-Americans were among the poorest of all groups.
They were virtually paupers.
They suffered from chronic unemployment, poor sanitation, inadequate diets and some even went without the benefit or rudiments of adequate hygiene. They suffered from a host of diseases including tuberculosis, syphilis, hookworms, pellagra, rickets, rotten teeth, and lower life spans than whites. Few blacks received medical attention—although some needed it desperately. Many lived outside the world of modern medicine, going from the cradle to the grave without ever seeing a doctor. Many white physicians refused to treat black patients and there was a shortage of black doctors. In addition, there were only a handful of black hospitals in the South, and white hospitals refused to accept black patients or if they did, black patients were assigned to segregated wings that were often overcrowded. Poverty as well as racism could be blamed for the lack of medical care in the South. Physicians often required their patients to pay as they received treatment. Poor people could not afford to do that. Therefore, many simply bore their illnesses or used folk medicine to cure themselves. To combat