Guatemalan Sexually Transmitted Disease studies bring up Tuskegee experiments

There was a recent revelation that the United States of America participated in human studies on Guatemalans. The United States of America government has issued an apology for the tests conducted, which infected Guatemalans with syphilis. The Tuskegee experiments, conducted on hundreds of poor African Americans, are eerily similar as both programs studied the effects of syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease. The Tuskegee experiments ran for 40 years. John C. Cutler carried out the Guatemalan tests for the two years that it ran, and a number of years of the Tuskegee program.

Guatemalan study was approved first

In the early 20th century, treatment for sexually transmitted disease was not as simple as today. Now, an infected person can pick up a prescription within hours. In 1946, before penicillin had been approved for use, the United States Public Health Service, the National Institute of Health, the Pan American Health Sanitary Institute and the Guatemalan government approved a study on the effects of syphilis, according the MSNBC. One man was in charge of the study. Dr. John Cutler was chosen. There were 696 test subjects, including male prisoners and female prostitutes. Some had the disease injected while others were encouraged to try to get the disease on their own. Up to a third of the subjects weren’t even treated for the disease. The study then ended. This happened in 1948.

Tuskegee syphilis did some different experiments

The Tuskegee Experiments are a dark chapter in American history. African Americans from the South were observed with the disease between 1932 and 1972. From Alabama there were 399 male subjects. The U.S. Public Health Service was responsible for the exploration. However, there is a slight difference. Tuskegee patients were already infected with syphilis, whereas the Guatemalan STD patients were not. Treatments weren’t given to two thirds of the Guatemalan patients. This is one more difference. Penicillin treatment wasn’t given to many. The Tuskegee patients didn’t get it at all. 1947 was when penicillin begun being used. It wasn’t before then. The experiment ran until 1972.

Expected apology

All those who see know how terrible the human experimentation really was. It isn’t something that could be excused ever. President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Health and Human Services Director Kathleen Sebelius all personally apologized to the Guatemalan individuals, according to CNN. That’s just the start of what should happen.

Articles cited

MSNBC

msnbc.msn.com/id/39456324/ns/health-sexual_health

CNN

cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/10/01/us.guatemala.apology/index.html?hpt=T1

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_syphilis_experiment