Why Is Tuskegee Study Unethical

Did you know that people were intentionally given a disease that could lead to death? The text Tuskegee Experiment: The Infamous Syphilis Study explains the events of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment that started in 1932. There were 600 African American sharecroppers that were involved in the study. Only 399 of the men had latent syphilis, and the other 201 had not been injected with the disease. Others may argue that these experiments were needed to develop proper medical treatment for syphilis, however the research methods used were inhumane to the participants. The study methods and treatment of participants expose deep rooted problems in how medical research is conducted and how marginalized communities are treated unethically by not giving participants proper medical treatment and non-consensually infecting people with the disease.
For example, the text states “... researchers provided no effective care as the men died, went blind or insane or experienced other severe health problems due to their untreated syphilis.” (p.3) This quote proves that instead of researchers giving the men proper care, they just let their condition worsen, and eventually die off. Another example from the text states “Some of those who became infected never received medical treatment.” (p.8) This quote refers to the Guatemalan prisoners that were intentionally given the disease, but some never received any type of medical care, treatment, or attention. Overall, the researchers inconsiderately gave the participants the disease, but never gave them the right medical attention they