Tuskegee
The Tuskegee Research Study on Syphilis
Stephan J. Skotko
University of Phoenix
January 13, 2010
HCS-435 Ethics: Health Care and Social Responsibility
Edward Casey
Every person or family member who has faced a medical crisis during his or her lifetime has at one point hoped for an immediate cure, a process that would deter any sort of painful or prolonged convalescence. Medical research always has paralleled a cure or treatment. From the beginning of the turn of the 20th century the most unspeakable appalling atrocities against human beings was The Tuskegee Syphilis Study. One of the most horrendous breaches of ethics in The United States history is Tuskegee’s studies and associated research.
. The study and the publicity that surrounded the study was one of the major influences leading to the organized arrangement of laws, rules and principles of the ethical treatment for human beings. Examples of which include; informed consent, patients personal autonomy, patients’ bill of rights, medical code of ethics, and limits to a practitioners professional autonomy. Miracle cures like penicillin and other antibiotics have proven the value of research. Many illnesses and diseases are currently under heavy research. Although not much research can give results that penicillin or other antibiotics have attained does not invalidate the necessity of research and the importance of it. There exist copious treatments for diseases today previously diagnosed terminal. Today those treatments extend life that just a few years ago would have killed or disabled it. Hope is a powerful weapon in the minds of those facing medical dilemmas. Hope can bring a confidence and trust between a patient and his or her medical specialist. The final and crowning moment of medical research is to convey that hope and that medical therapy will succeed and alleviate that patient’s pain and suffering. Today’s medical community must convey to patients the need for
Stephan J. Skotko
University of Phoenix
January 13, 2010
HCS-435 Ethics: Health Care and Social Responsibility
Edward Casey
Every person or family member who has faced a medical crisis during his or her lifetime has at one point hoped for an immediate cure, a process that would deter any sort of painful or prolonged convalescence. Medical research always has paralleled a cure or treatment. From the beginning of the turn of the 20th century the most unspeakable appalling atrocities against human beings was The Tuskegee Syphilis Study. One of the most horrendous breaches of ethics in The United States history is Tuskegee’s studies and associated research.
. The study and the publicity that surrounded the study was one of the major influences leading to the organized arrangement of laws, rules and principles of the ethical treatment for human beings. Examples of which include; informed consent, patients personal autonomy, patients’ bill of rights, medical code of ethics, and limits to a practitioners professional autonomy. Miracle cures like penicillin and other antibiotics have proven the value of research. Many illnesses and diseases are currently under heavy research. Although not much research can give results that penicillin or other antibiotics have attained does not invalidate the necessity of research and the importance of it. There exist copious treatments for diseases today previously diagnosed terminal. Today those treatments extend life that just a few years ago would have killed or disabled it. Hope is a powerful weapon in the minds of those facing medical dilemmas. Hope can bring a confidence and trust between a patient and his or her medical specialist. The final and crowning moment of medical research is to convey that hope and that medical therapy will succeed and alleviate that patient’s pain and suffering. Today’s medical community must convey to patients the need for
References: Foster, C. (2001). The ethics of medical research on humans, Cambridge, United Kingdom: The Press syndicate of the University of Cambridge. Jones, J. (1981). Bad blood, New York Free Press. (n.d.). Psycnet. Retrieved 1-10-2010 from http://psycnet.apa.org. BlogSpot. (2008). George washing tons blog. Retrieved 1-9-2010 from http://georgewashingtons.blogspot.com