The Tuskegee syphilis experiment. A zine by Abrahan, Amber,and Jandell
What was the problem with the tuskegee experiment?
The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment was a clinical study conducted by the US Public Health Service between 1932 and 1972, in which hundreds of African American men in Alabama were denied proper medical treatment for syphilis after given syphilis, and even after penicillin became available as a treatment. This unethical experiment resulted in the men suffering from syphilis-related complications and even death. By the end of the experiment, 28 participants had died of syphilis, 100 were dead of related complications, 40 of their wives had been infected, and 19 of their children had been born with congenital syphilis.
“The Tuskegee study is perhaps the most enduring wound in American health science.” is what Vann R. Newkirk II said about this tragedy that occured in Alabama. The scientists told the participants that they were being treated for “bad blood” and were given free medical exams, free meals, and burial insurance. The men in the experiment also did not sign a contract or knew that they were contracting a lethal STD..
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What Is Syphilis and what were the effects on people who were experiencing the study ??
Syphilis is a rather unattractive sti which could be caught by anyone, but it affected black males differently. Syphilis has 3 stages stage one you get sores, stage two you get a body rash, and stage three affects your internal organs.
“Nightmare Experiment”
“They said the study would do us good”
“Everybody knows how we were mistreated”
All of this said by the last survivor Ernest Hendon years after the study. Which is clearly true because by the end of the study it had killed 128 participants and infected 40 wives and 19 children were born with congenital syphilis. The men were not told that they had syphilis instead were told that they had “bad blood”. Ernest “ he had no idea what he was getting into” just like the other men in this study.
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A word from the president
Bill Clinton, in May 16th, 1997 brought a speech that emphasize how bad the experiment was and how we should not forget this tragedy. He says “It is not only in remembering that shameful past that we can make amends and repair our nation, but it is in remembering that past that we can build a better present and a better future.”
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-Urell,A. (2022, June 3). Tuskegee syphilis experiment. Equal Justice Initiative. Retrieved March 1, 2023, from https://eji.org/news/history-racial-injustice-tuskegee-syphilis-e xperiment/
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References
