Not a member? Sign up now
U.S. officially apologizes for giving Guatemalans gonorrhea
By Lindsay CutlerOctober 1st, 2010, 10:15 amComments (10)
Two women's studies professors at Wellesley College recently uncovered evidence of an experiment performed on Guatemalans by the U.S. over sixty years ago. What did said experiment consist of? Giving them gonorrhea:
The researchers were trying to determine whether the antibiotic penicillin could prevent early syphilis infection, not just cure it, Reverby writes. After the subjects were infected with the syphilis bacteria — through visits with prostitutes who had the disease and direct inoculations — Reverby notes that it is unclear whether they were later cured or given proper treatment.
But it's not quite as sexy as that, and it wasn't just gonorrhea. The U.S. "intentionally infected hundreds of people in Guatemala, including institutionalized mental patients, with gonorrhea and syphilis without their knowledge or permission...Many of those infected were encouraged to pass the infection onto others as part of the study."
Hillary Clinton and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will deliver an official apology to the people of Guatemala today.
Commentarium (10 Comments)
We did this right in our own country in the same time frame in the Tuskegee 'experiments' giving syphilis to black people in Alabama. I guess at the time it was considered okay 'because' they were black or brown? It wasn't right when the Nazi's commited atrocities to children and others in so called 'medical experiments' -it was a war crime. These too are egregious crimes against humanity. We now have Institutional Review Boards to keep this kind of criminal activity from ever happening again. It is one more shameful blot on our history. I am glad we are at least apoligizing 60 years later. It isn't much, but I pray it means we won't use ostensible medical care to conduct wicked experiments on the poor and illiterate in the future. Or is it too much to ask?
So then, would it be safe to make an assumption about any other disease experiments?
Guatemala should apologize to the U.S. for giving the Sirius studio in New York bedbugs, via Robin Quivers.
it says right in the excerpt you posted that the disease was syphilis, but you keep saying gonorrhea.
But it also says right after the excerpt that it wasn't just gonorrhea.
A Clinton apology, that's as rare as an ivory billed woodpecker. But wait, she wasn't apologizing for her or her cellmates actions, so that really doesn't count. Guess they're both on the mythical list again.
Check out the deliberate HIV/AIDS infection of Bennett Moase on youtube. Name search Bennett Moase or go to link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgZ8XiBznvY
What good does an apology do?
FYI, for historical accuracy: the Tusgegee study did not infect participants with syphilis. When the study began penicillin was not available. Many of the (poor, uneducated, rural, Black) participants contracted syphilis on their own either before or during the study.
Penicillin became available while the study was ongoing, but the researchers withheld treatment (and even information about treatment) to continue observing the long-term effects the the disease. Certainly an egregious human rights violation but not, in fact, as serious as the Guatemalan study where participants were actively infected.
I recently heard this story and thought that surely it must be a mistake, another sensationalistic tale to cast the US in a negative way. Seeing that this is true, I am truly starting to feel very uncomfortable with our govt. I have always been a very patriotic individual, but am starting to see that they really do not care about anything, except their own power and control of the people. I am starting to see how this country's leaders have always been and continue to be downright evil. Perhaps it is true then that this country, along with other powerful people around the world will start controlling population growth with diseases, famine, and war