We can all agree that this study was not very well monitored by the government, and the horrific things that were being done had just slipped under the radar until the story was broken On July 25, 1972. The most disgusting thing to me was the fact that this went on within my parents, and grandparents life time. The fact that a study like this could go on, and not be caught was very frightening to me, but in a sense it had to happen eventually. Our government would never realize that they need to keep a careful eye on the scientific community unless they actually have evidence to support this claim. Not only would they not realize it is a problem, but also for the government to get funds to support the Public Health Service and the monitoring off studies like this, they need a study like this to show the American citizens how necessary it is. I am not happy the study happened, but I am happy that it was exposed for what it was, Irresponsible scientific research. I believe this study, widened the eyes of America. We cannot trust the word of every doctor or scientist, because, though there are those out there trying to help human kind, others are willing to do whatever they can to get that fame and attention. That kind of scientific advancement is what we need to be careful off as citizens, and as a country. It all comes back to the idea of Risk vs Benefit. to what lengths are we willing to go, for a scientific study? The Tuskegee Study made America more conscious of this idea of Risk vs Benefit. We began to question things such as stem cell research. Yes they are trying to help people, but what ethical dilemmas are they facing along the way. Citizens now are more aware of how studies are conducted, and exactly what type of research goes into science, not just the results. In retrospect I think a great Precedent for science was set, when the Tuskegee study was exposed, and I ask you to think about, how do you think science would be different today, If studies such as the Tuskegee experiment and the Nazi experiments were not exposed, and science was left unmonitored by the Government? Would we have more advances in Medical research? would people be unwilling to take part in studies? I hope this all makes sense...
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I think if studies such as the Tuskegee experiment and the Nazi experiments were not exposed and science was left unmonitored by the government, we would not have more advances in medical research because without the government monitoring, the government would most likely not be willing to fund medical research. In order to advance in medical research, it is necessary for the scientists to receive funds to conduct their research aside from organizations. Although scientists would have more liberty to conduct whatever kind of experiments, the dangers outweigh the benefits. If this privilege was given to the wrong hands, dangers could arise that could harm the people involved in the experiment or possibly harm to the world if a deadly virus created in a lab was leaked into the general population. People with ill intent could create malicious experiments without significance I also think people would be unwilling to take part in these experiments because there is more risk and they might fear for their safety since they are not assured by the government that the experiment follows regulations.
ReplyDeleteYeah that is what I was thinking as I look back on this post. If we didn't have government regulations on experiments and scientific research, we wouldn't know what products to trust and which ones we could not. Some research could have been malicious and done under the wrong circumstances as you said, and people would not know the difference between the results of that science lab, and that of a lab that has clean research and no questionable ethics. Also, like you said a problem with funding would occur. With no government funding it would come down, not too who has the better ideas for research, but who has more money to follow through with experiments and research. That would not put scientists on a fair playing field, and it would discourage young students from getting into science because it relies on money, not how hard you work or study.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. I didn't think of it in this perspective but, I guess this had to have happened at some point. It's a good thing that there are regulations now so people feel fine participating in science experiments without major risks. The whole funding question is very interesting. Without government funding, almost all science research would have to stop. Mrs. VanHoeck said in class one day that there's only a few major private contributors to scientific research other than the government. The research would definitley come down to who has money, not who has ideas.
ReplyDeleteI find it very ineteresting that sometimes the mistakes of one individual can completely change the way we view issues. Originally I thought that not practicing this experiment at all would've been the best idea due to the amount of lives lost but after reading the responses, it seems that future generations like ours were able to benefit through the bad choices made in the past. I also agree that without government monitoring, our system in terms of the scienctific department will be extremely chaoic and unregulated. Scientists in the Tuskegee experiment went overboard due to their curiousity so it is a good thing that the government has set rules in order to prevent them from commiting crimes like this again. So basically I guess this experiment did eventually open up our eyes to the evil in this world.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I think that it easily go both ways. Coming in to the modern age, things like ethics and strong senses of morals are being considered for studies like these. Definitely a positive of our modern age which came out of distasteful studies such as the Tuskegee Syphilis study. One point I would like to bring up though, though out the lifespan of all humanity, it is just this little break in time in which morals were an issue and government was needed to play a role in these studies. If you think about it, it's not like the human race has just started performing medical practices and studies. We've been doing it for hundreds of years! Obviously, many immoral things have been done throughout history to many patients, but these acts laid down the basis for medicine of what we have today. I believe if government played a larger role throughout this entire time, we wouldn't have as many medical advances as we do now...
ReplyDeleteOr maybe not, it's hard to say what would've happened if history took a different route, because you're right, if there were government regulations many more people could've been willing to study and numbers could've helped aid research... It goes both ways, but just keep in mind, medically we've been advancing steadily for hundreds of years without government regulation.