“The USPHS Syphilis Study at Tuskegee” was started by the Tuskegee Institute and the USPHS (United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps) in 1932 and 40 years ended in 1972. This study looked at the effects of untreated syphilis in black men as suggested by its original name “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male”.
More than 600 subjects were told they were receiving treatment for bad blood (a term for ailments such as syphilis, anemia, and more) but what was actually being observed was the “natural history of untreated syphilis” in black populations. Researchers believed that black people were more prone to STI’s and that they wouldn’t seek treatment for STI’s.
Subjects which also involved healthy men were given fake medicine, medical exams, meals, and burial insurance so when they inevitably died the researchers could study their corpse.
In 1943 when penicillin started being used to actually treat syphilis the subjects were prevented from getting it. Most of them believed they were already being treated so most didn’t seek treatment and the researchers hypothesis that subjects wouldn’t seek treatment became self fulfilling.
Some subjects were able to get penicillin but the researchers tried their best to stop any of the subjects from getting it until 1972. When a the study was leaked and published in newspapers. A massive outcry resulted in the shut down, acts that would help prevent another similar study, and a lawsuit for $10 million and medical treatment for the remaining subjects , wives, and kids.
This study hurt many people. The wives , girlfriends , and kids were also infected as well as who knows how many other people.
Peoples trust in the government and the medical community was also hurt. With a history like this its easy to see why people would be skeptical of the vaccine. But we have to remember that the subjects were denied medicine not given it and as a result of mostly un-vaccinated people crowding hospitals many more people are denied the life saving care they need.
Many people cant even afford their life saving care and that is the bigger problem. The US is conditioned to believe that paying thousands in insurance and hospital bills is better than paying hundreds in taxes going towards universal healthcare.
Sources :
https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline.htm
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/history/40-years-human-experimentation-america-tuskegee-study