Racism And Research

"Racism and Research: The Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study" by Allan M. Brandt

Research Question: Has the history of medical science been built on the foundation of unethical medical research/ experimentation on African Americans?

Summary: This article broke down every detail within the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Answering all the whys and at the same time making you question other aspects of the study in order to grasp the concept that what happened was unethical. Allan Brandt gave the argument of whether the study was ethical or unethical a different perspective. Brandt stated, " ... freedom had caused the mental, moral, and physical deterioration of the black populations," (pg. 2). Clinicians argued that the venereal disease threatened the future of the race. Most of the African Americans who were infected with Syphilis were going untreated to begin with so clinicians saw nothing wrong with withholding treatment if in the beginning they had no intention of being treated. All of this was padding their argument that the conducted study was ethical by all means. When people think of the Syphilis Study they think of the infamous study of 1932, but not many people know that a study was conducted earlier named the Olso Study of Untreated Syphilis between 1890 and 1910. the study withheld treatment from almost two thousand patients infected with syphilis. Olso had shown that untreated syphilis could lead to cardiovascular disease, insanity and premature death. Although the Olso study was called "a never to be repeated human experiment" by many physicians who worked within the Olso case, these same physicians served as expert consultants to the Tuskegee Study. This Article just gave a different perspective to the Tuskegee Study beyond what people think happened.

I found this article using Academic Premier. It took a while to find it. I had to find the best combination of databases to find the right articles, which came to the science and history databases combined.

Brandt, Allan M. "Racism and Research: The Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study." The Hasting Report Center 8.6 (1978): 21-29. Print.