Brandt (1978) justifies the origin of the Tuskegee study by stating that blacks were more susceptible to venereal disease because of lust and immorality, which made them more likely to suffer from such illnesses. Brandt further states that physicians at that period concluded that the black community was overwhelmed by the diseases, which made the study more fitting for them. On the other hand, Herbert Green, a gynecologist in Auckland, justified the study to use of women who had CIS of the cervix by stating that he wanted to prove to the world that CIS was not a pre-malignant ailment (Paul & Brookes, 2015). Both studies practiced scientific racism, in that the subjects chosen from the test were poor black individuals. When the Tuskegee Study started, there was no known treatment for syphilis, which compelled the research. However, even after the penicillin drug was discovered, the study continued because, as the doctors justified, they had not found the relevant results (Tuskegee University, 2020). What is more, the study seemed like a hub that supported the poorer black individuals as it promised them benefits such as medical insurance, free medical exams, and food on examination days, as well as free treatment for minor ailments. This is why the study went on for long, even after their crude methods were made a matter of public record.
The results of both studies cannot be regarded as credible for several reasons. To begin with, the researchers in both studies withheld the appropriate treatment from the subjects. For the male subjects, penicillin was discovered in the middle of the study, while for the women, there were other effective treatment options already that the gynecologist withheld to complete the results. Additionally, both studies lied to the participants at the beginning of the study, which means any of the results got might have also been fabricated. The Tuskegee study told the men that they were getting treatment, which was not the case, while Herbert Green assured the women that they did not require treatment to get rid of the lesions (Paul & Brookes, 2015).
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References
Brandt, A. M. (1978). Racism and Research: The Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Hastings Center Report , 21-29.
Paul, C., & Brookes, B. (2015). The Rationalization of Unethical Research: Revisionist Accounts of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the New Zealand “Unfortunate Experiment”. American Journal of Public Health , 105 (10), E12-E19.
Tuskegee University. (2020). About the USPHS Syphilis Study. https://www.Tuskegee.Edu/About-Us/Centers-Of-Excellence/Bioethics-Center/About-The-Usphs-Syphilis-Study
