Given the time period of this study, the 1940's and after, African American men of the lower class were most likely being drafted into the army to fight in World War 2. Although this study started in 1932, the Second World War begin not too long after. With this in mind, African Americans were most likely ecstatic to be apart of a science study and receive free medical help. The set back is that these men did not realize they would need so much medical help or how extreme the study was getting. The article from infoplease.com stated, “The true nature of the experiment had to be kept from the subjects to ensure their cooperation.” I understand this reasoning to make sure the men stayed with the study or it would not have any meaning. What I am questioning is why they were not removed from their family and daily life style to ensure those they are around to not contract the disease? The article also stated “40 of their wives had been infected, and 19 of their children had been born with congenital syphilis.” My question then is if this was part of their study and they will treat those affected with the disease down the line with the widely known cure of penicillin or if they will let them live with the disease as a struggle in their own life in a very sneaky and unethical way of conducting a science?
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I really think it all comes down to racsim. Their whole way of thinking was backwards and the whole study was a bad idea from the start. Based on their actions, it's my opinion that the doctors didn't really care what happened to the men, their wives, or their children. They let the men live with syphilis because they cared more about their results than they did about them men being experimented on. They thought nothing of the men's health and the only treatments they gave were very small doses of toxic substances like mercury. They should have realized the experiment was useless with the invention of penicillan and let the men be treated, but instead they abused science and let innocent people live with a horrible disease.
ReplyDeleteSarah I do agree with you that they should have realized the experiment was useless with the invention of penicillin and that they treated their testing subjects badly. What we will never know is if it was part of their test to see how they would react with just a little mercury and how it would affect their families down the line. However, if we know that was true or not, it still is wrong to do. Another question that arouses from this is that they did not treat their subjects in an ethical way but did they do an equal study on whites? Did they give the same treatments to whites as they did blacks? So like Sarah, I agree that it all does come down to racism.
ReplyDeleteI also algree with both of you that this all boils down to racism. The scientists didnt care about the mens health or even that their families were struggling with the same disease. all they cared about were the results. which is a shame, because they could of helped out so many people with the disease if they weren't so selfish and only thinking about themselves.
ReplyDeleteyes i agree with everyone here because the whole exparament was based on racism. Everything they did to the black people was racist they didnt tell them what was going on they didnt treat the people contributing to the study all they did was let them pretty much die off. It was for the scientests own study and they didnt try to help the people contributing just let them die not thinking of them but only about there exparament.
ReplyDeleteThe initial question here really raises an interesting point. Why were any of the black men fathers? The disease would obviously be passed on to either their wives or their children. If they had done the experiment with single black men then perhaps it would be a little less of a crime. If the scientists had such devious intentions as to weed out African Americans from society then perhaps infecting a family would help their cause. This could be an ulterior motive to their choices of patients. Once the cure was discovered then the children and wives could have been treated as well. Though they weren't, this really is quite depressing.
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