Question: Evaluating Tuskegee
The Tuskegee syphilis experiment, conducted between 1932 and 1972, involved the Public Health Service, which conducted an experiment on 399 African-American men in the late stages of syphilis. Treatment, although available, was withheld. These men were illiterate sharecroppers from one of the poorest counties in Alabama. The doctors were interested in studying the effects of untreated syphilis on African-American men. The Henderson Act (1943) requires that treatment be given for venereal disease, and the World Health Organization Declaration of Helsinki (1964) specifies that informed consent is needed in human experiments.
Based on this information, your Thomas and Quinn reading, and your independent research; write and post a discussion topic that addresses the following questions:
Did the Tuskegee experiment violate the ethical standards regarding human subjects in research during the time period it was initiated? Why or why not?
Would this experiment violate today''s ethical standards regarding using human subjects in research? If so, which standards? If not, why not?