Question

in one paragraph give an opinion about " The Tuskegee Study.

Answer 1

The Tuskegee Study

For forty years, the Tuskegee Study of untreated syphilis in the Negro Male, has passively monitored hundreds of adult black males with syphilis despite the availability of effective treatment. In the study the study group men were not purposefully infected with syphilis, but they already had late latent syphilis, and the control group had men without syphilis. The study was aimed at discovering whether blacks react to the shyphilis in the day way as that of the whites, and for how long the person can survive with untreated syphilis. Some study participants suffered with severe adverse effects due to methods of trial used on them, while some died due to advances lesions, their wives were infected, and many offsprips were born with congenital syphilis. Even as some study men suffered with advanced symptoms, the doctors withheld treatment, remaining committed to observing their subjects through to the predetermined “end point” ie the autopsy, they were denied treatment even after penicillin became the standard cure for syphillis. The study group were never told they had sexually transmitted disease, they were just told that they were ill and were provided with free treatment.

We being in the field of medicine, it is in our hands to find a cure and nurse the ill to good health. The doctors who take an oath (The Hippocratic Oath, a sacred oath to us), to protect people and cause no harm, had neglected their oath and went on to experiment on human lives as a mere means to the end. Such studies only cause distrust on the medical field. one of the main component in a patient-physician relationship is trust. Such study raises a queue of ethical issues which include, racism, informed consent, truth-telling, paternalism, whistle blowing, scientism, double standards, maleficence, and the use of deception in research. We being in such a prestigious position to save a patient's life, we should have a set of morals and ethics so that we can win the trust of the patient and serve by the cause.

The profession of medicine is a selfless passion, we being in such a sacred job, where we see so much pain, suffering, death, should know the value of life and serve by the cause to save a life, by all means, without wanting something in return. Only then can we rest in peace and happiness.