Ethical problems

1. Ethical problems Created by Willie Fox

2. Ethical problems with the research • The study was conducted without the benefit of patients' informed consent.  • These men were also not informed about the basis of the study, but instead were told that they would be receiving “free treatment from government doctors.” • Researchers told the men they were being treated for "bad blood," a local term used to describe several ailments, including syphilis, anemia, and fatigue. • In exchange for taking part in the study, the men received free medical exams, free meals, and burial insurance. • This study was originally projected to span 6-9 months but lasted for 40 years.

3. Ethical problems with the research • Both the syphilitic group and the control group were not to receive any medication or treatment of any kind from local hospitals or doctors.  • Names were put onto lists given to local hospitals, and they were told not to treat the patients.  • Participants had to schedule appointments with the government doctors, and while they were told they were receiving penicillin, in actuality they were just receiving aspirin or other ineffective means of treatment.  • After penicillin was found to be an effective treatment for syphilis, the study continued for another 25 years without treating those suffering from the disease. • Many of the participants began to die because of the effects of untreated syphilis, and autopsies were performed without permission from the deceased.

4. Ethically unjustified • Between the start of the study and the date when penicillin was found to be the cure for syphilis, dozens of men had died and their wives, children, and an untold amount of others had been infected. • The men had not been told actual name of the study, it’s purpose, and potential consequences of the treatment or non-treatment that they would receive during the study. • The men never knew of the debilitating and life threatening consequences of the treatments they were to receive, the impact on their wives, girlfriends, and children they may have conceived once involved in the research. • There were no choices given to participants to quit the study when penicillin became available as a cure and treatment.