Tuskegee Syphilis Problem

In 1990, new federal regulations called for a greater inclusion of minorities in medical research and made clear that any exclusion of minorities from medical studies must be backed by compelling rationale. They were created with a two-part goal of “protection of vulnerable groups from exploitation” and “of ensuring that research findings are of benefit to all” (King, 1992/2008, p. 83-84). The regulations were proposed in response to a dwindling number of minority and female participants in federally funded medical studies. The marked decrease in minority participants was largely due to the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, a 40-year long study that examined the effects of untreated syphilis in 400 African American males. The shamefully unethical treatment of the men who participated in the Tuskegee study caused a general distrust of the medical community amongst minorities.
83).
King (1992/2008) posits that “[e]ven in circumstances where the goal of a scientific study is to benefit a stigmatized group or person, such well-intentioned efforts may nevertheless cause harm” (p. 83). She goes on to say that on one hand, to ignore differences in race may lead researchers to miss factors of disease that are correlated to race. On the other hand, to focus on the differences between races may foster stigmatization of minority groups. In the following passages, I will further discuss the two sides of the dilemma presented by King and will provide an argument for how the dilemma may be