The Tuskegee Study was funded in 1929 by the Julius Oswald Foundation in order to observe and determine the natural course of untreated, latent syphilis in black men. The experiment took place in the city of Tuskegee since that city had the highest syphilis rate in the 6 counties studied. The two main conductors of this study were Dr. Taliaferro Clark and Raymond A. Vonderlehr. The experiment was eventually launched in 1932, initiated by the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) and included 400 syphilitic men and 200 uninfected men, which represented the control group in the experiment. The study had a lot of racial influences, rather than it being an ethical and science-based study. Darwinism had a heavy influence on the structure of and unethical behaviors that occurred in the medical field, which eventually swayed the operation of this study. Physicians believed that lust, immorality, unstable families, and reversion to barbaric tendencies made black people especially prone to venereal diseases such as syphilis. High syphilis rates were also linked to insanity and crime. Doctors at the time were set on the idea that better medical care for black people could not alter the “evolutionary scheme” they are a part of.
The experiment occurred during a time where major publications advocated for treatment, no matter the stage of sickness. Studies also showed that untreated syphilis could lead to health complications such as cardiovascular disease, insanity, and premature death. In the year the study was conducted, the USPHS sponsored and published a paper by 7 syphilis experts whom advocated for the treatment of syphilis, but they also had unethical roles in this study. The main conductors of this study promised syphilis treatment to the infected persons if they did become test subjects, but Dr. Clark found it only valuable to observe the consequences of untreated syphilis. The subjects were given mercurial ointment and inadequate doses of neoarsphenamine, which were both non-effective. Conductors were able to get away with these false treatments for so long due to the lack of knowledge Negros had at this time.
The study was supposed to initially last for 6 months, but it lasted for about 40 years. Besides the false promises of treatment, USPHS promised to cover burial expenses once certain men decided to leave the study after they realized the “treatments” were not working. Since funerals were important to blacks who inhabited rural areas, many decided to continue and they were given $50 up front to gain the “trust” of these organizations and doctors. Throughout the course of this study, penicillin was discovered as a treatment for syphilis, yet it was not administered to any subject. To add to the numerous unethical behaviors, those who were not infected that eventually became effected were transferred to the experimental group, which is an inept violation of standard research procedure. Latent syphilis cases were increasing, more deaths were occurring due to untreated syphilis, and the USPHS began to influence the “no treatment” policy on infected drafts in the army. To end on a lighter note, by 1952, 30% of test subjects received some penicillin, but it was through their own actions.
The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare ended the study after it continuously appeared in the national press in 1972. This same year, the department formed the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Ad Hoc Advisory Panel on August 28. This panel focused on the justification of the study and if penicillin should have been provided when first available. The panel consisted on 9 members, 5 of which are black. The final report they developed is questionable because it failed to incorporate many issues caused by USPHS. The members of the panel were afraid to be viewed as a critique on human experimentation, which may be why the information included in the report was limited.
All in all, this experiment was never meant to observe and determine the natural course of untreated, latent syphilis in black men; it was used as a tool to undermine the African American race. Doctors, physicians, government officials, and more (both black and white) worked together to “accomplish what man cannot do”. Blacks, sex, and disease were the main focus of why black people were the way they were in the early 20th century. This is a prominent example of why minorities, especially black people, unfortunately do not trust the medical system.