Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Was there a need?
Agreeing that during this time period there was major racism going on still does not justify the cruelty of the researchers of this experiment. By choosing to do this test on poor black men, it dehumanizes them. Was it an unethical to perform these tests on poor black men without their knowledge?
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I agree that it was unethical to a certain extent. It was terrible that these men were chosen because they wouldn't know what was really going on. They should have at least known what the test were for. "Bad Blood' is what they were being "treated" for. This term had many different meanings: including fatigue and anemia. The scientists should have at least told the men that they were being treated for syphilis!
ReplyDeleteI think the most unethical thing about this study is that these men were specifically chosen because they wouldn't protest because they weren't told anything about the experiment.
I agree with Holly, that it was unethical for the men to be forced into this experiment without the knowledge of what they were getting into, Not only were they being experimented on for a cure, but when the cure was found, they wer not offered the treatment, rather left to die...
ReplyDeleteDyna brings up a really good point when she says that the most unethical part of the experiment was that the men were offered no treatment and left to die. I'd like to take that one step further. Not only were the men left to die even when there was a cure, but their families were infected. It's one thing to keep treatment from men, but their children were infected by the disease as well. I think the fact that innocent children died is the most unethical part of the experiment.
ReplyDeleteGoing back to Holly's comment about knowing what they were being treated for; I agree with her. I think the men should have at least been told what they were being tested for even if they were still chosen just so they could have the knowledge of what was 'wrong'. Even if they had no idea what syphilis was, they could at least know what they were dying from when treatment was denied. If I were a family member of one of the men, I would be very concerned of the fact that I did not know what that family member was dying from and if it was contagious or not. Also, I agree with Sarah in the fact that the most unethical part of the experiment was the children left to die because they should have been treated even if it was simply a test to see if the treatment worked, the scientists would have at least been trying.
ReplyDeleteSarah, you bring up an interesting point I didn't think of before. The thought that their families are impacted just as much as they were, if not worse. To expand, the families now will carry that disease because the scientists left them out and they patients were not aware of the cure.
ReplyDeleteIt was extremely unethical, but during the time period i guess it fit the experiment. The experiment was laid out to find the effects of the Syphilis over time on the Human Body. I believe that if these men had known that they had syphilis and knew that the study that they enrolled in was not helping, they could've gone somewhere else and been cured. Obviously, the researchers didn't want this, even after penicillin was available. That's why they unethically kept the fact they had penicillin away from them. During these "racist" times, it seemed best to collect the data on these horribly treated men. The men's race was used as a scapegoat for the atrocity of the study and the lack of information. (Unethical in so many ways)
ReplyDeletei totally agree with the expirement being unethical. The men being tested on were a minority and racism played a huge part in this case. These men were lied to, brided, and were treated completely like property. There was nothing ethical about this.
ReplyDeleteI honestly dont understand how people can go around and treat other human beings like that! Its crazy! Imagine you were the wife or child of one of the men doing this experiment on these poor black men? What would you think? would you be ashamed to know that your own family member is treating other human being with such disrespect? I how be so embarrassed and hurt that my own family member would do something like that!
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