Question

MANY PEOPLE WHO READ ABOUT THE TUSKEGEE STUDY ONLY NOTICE THE RACE OF THE STUDY SUBJECT. ARE THERE LEGAL AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONHERE THAT APPLY TOANY GROUP OF POTENTIAL RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS? DO YOU THINK THE TUSKEGEE EVENT COULD OCCUR TODAY? WHY OR WHY NOT.

Answer 1

MANY PEOPLE WHO READ ABOUT THE TUSKEGEE STUDY ONLY NOTICE THE RACE OF THE STUDY SUBJECT. ARE THERE LEGAL AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATION HERE THAT APPLY TOANY GROUP OF POTENTIAL RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS? DO YOU THINK THE TUSKEGEE EVENT COULD OCCUR TODAY? WHY OR WHY NOT.

Most of the researchers are aware of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. It is a dishonorable unethical research study conducted in the 1940s under the sponsorships of the US Public Health Service (USPHS). It was an experimental study conducted in black men as target population, among them four hundred were infected with syphilis, while the other two hundred uninfected functioned as the control group for the study. The objective of that study was to find out whether black men respond to syphilis in the similar manner as white men responds and also they had an objective to determine how long a human can sustain with non- treated syphilis. Most of the study participants are poor and uneducated and they were left untreated with syphilis. At that time Penicillin was available and those poor didn’t get appropriate treatment only because of the selfish need of the research team. Another ethical violation is like, they haven’t informed about the study participants about the exact time duration of the study. They have treated the poor life without considering the basic ethical principle and their rights

I think, the Tuskegee event will not going to happen in today’s world. It is because after the unethical Tuskegee Study, the government in majority of the country has changed its rules and laws regarding research practice. After this unethical study, United States established the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research and the National Research Act. Now every research should get Human ethics committee clearance before starting their work. Ethics committee has members from different background including medical, legal, social etc. They will check whether the research is denying any type of standard treatment or harming the participants. Failure to follow the rules will result in penalty.