American Medicine History. Tuskegee Study’s Ethics Essay (Critical Writing)

Introduction

Modern medicine has experienced significant improvement over the 20^th century. Now, it is possible to treat diseases that were considered incurable a few decades ago, and it is impressive. However, little is said about how much it cost to achieve this level of development. It is sad to mention that multiple individuals were subject to experimental treatment methods and intolerable pain, and the Tuskegee Study is a suitable example here. Thus, the primary purpose of this paper is to prove that the experiment was unethical even though there was no known completely effective cure for syphilis when the study began.

Main body

Firstly, the CDC (n.d.) states that the experiment failed to meet ethical norms because its participants did not give informed consent to suffer from untreated syphilis. The researchers did not provide those African Americans with exhaustive information on the study design and possible dangers. Secondly, another ethical issue becomes evident with the help of Deibert’s letter, where a Tuskegee doctor asks how he can make the participants submit to painful “back shots” (Warner & Tighe, 2001, p. 393). This document indicates that subterfuge could play an essential role in the experiment. Thirdly, the most evident feature of the unethical nature of the study under consideration is the fact that the researchers did not offer adequate treatment. Thus, the participants were not given penicillin even when it “became the drug of choice for syphilis in 1947” (CDC, n.d., para. 5).

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is possible to mention that the Tuskegee Study raised significant ethical issues, and three examples have demonstrated it. The researchers did not take care of the participant’s well-being, which makes this experiment infamous. Furthermore, any attempts to justify the scientists by the absence of adequate treatment are useless. It is so because they did not offer any therapy when penicillin was invented. It means that it is a problem when researchers forget about people’s health trying to achieve their medical objectives.

References

CDC. (n.d.). The Tuskegee timeline. Web.

Warner, J. H., & Tighe, J. A. (2001). Major problems in the history of American medicine and public health: documents and essays. Houghton Mifflin.