US apologizes for infecting Guatemalans with STDs in the 1940s
S government medical researchers intentionally infected hundreds of people in Guatemala, including institutionalized mental patients, with gonorrhea and syphilis without their knowledge or permission more than 60 years ago.
![[US Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius apologized for the United States Friday for funding a 1940s study in which hundreds of Guatemalans were deliberately infected with syphilis and gonorrhea without their consent.
(AFP/Alex Wong)]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/std-sebelius.jpg "std-sebelius.jpg")
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius apologized for the United States Friday for funding a 1940s study in which hundreds of Guatemalans were deliberately infected with syphilis and gonorrhea without their consent. (AFP/Alex Wong)Many of those infected were encouraged to pass the infection onto others as part of the study.
About one third of those who were infected never got adequate treatment.
On Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius offered extensive apologies for actions taken by the U.S. Public Health Service.
"The sexually transmitted disease inoculation study conducted from 1946-1948 in Guatemala was clearly unethical," according to the joint statement from Clinton and Sebelius. "Although these events occurred more than 64 years ago, we are outraged that such reprehensible research could have occurred under the guise of public health. We deeply regret that it happened, and we apologize to all the individuals who were affected by such abhorrent research practices."
The apology was directed to Guatemala and to Hispanic residents of the United States, according to officials.
A telebriefing with Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health and Arturo Valenzuela, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Affairs is expected around 11 a.m. ET.
The episode raises inevitable comparisons to the infamous Tuskegee experiment, the Alabama study where hundreds of African-American men were told they were being treated for syphilis, but in fact were denied treatment. That U.S. government study lasted from 1932 until press reports revealed it in 1972.
The Guatemala experiments, which were conducted between 1946 and 1948, never provided any useful information and the records were hidden.
They were discovered by Susan Reverby, a professor of women's studies at Wellesley College, and was posted on her website.
According to Reverby's report, the Guatemalan project was co-sponsored by the U.S. Public Health Service, the NIH, the Pan-American Health Sanitary Bureau (now the Pan American Health Organization) and the Guatemalan government. The experiments involved 696 subjects - male prisoners and female patients in the National Mental Health Hospital.
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.
Reverby, who has written extensively about the Tuskegee experiments, found the evidence while conducting further research on the Alabama syphilis study.
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius apologized for the United States Friday for funding a 1940s study in which hundreds of Guatemalans were deliberately infected with syphilis and gonorrhea without their consent. (AFP/Alex Wong)About one third of those who were infected never got adequate treatment.
On Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius offered extensive apologies for actions taken by the U.S. Public Health Service.
"The sexually transmitted disease inoculation study conducted from 1946-1948 in Guatemala was clearly unethical," according to the joint statement from Clinton and Sebelius. "Although these events occurred more than 64 years ago, we are outraged that such reprehensible research could have occurred under the guise of public health. We deeply regret that it happened, and we apologize to all the individuals who were affected by such abhorrent research practices."
The apology was directed to Guatemala and to Hispanic residents of the United States, according to officials.
A telebriefing with Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health and Arturo Valenzuela, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Affairs is expected around 11 a.m. ET.
The episode raises inevitable comparisons to the infamous Tuskegee experiment, the Alabama study where hundreds of African-American men were told they were being treated for syphilis, but in fact were denied treatment. That U.S. government study lasted from 1932 until press reports revealed it in 1972.
The Guatemala experiments, which were conducted between 1946 and 1948, never provided any useful information and the records were hidden.
They were discovered by Susan Reverby, a professor of women's studies at Wellesley College, and was posted on her website.
According to Reverby's report, the Guatemalan project was co-sponsored by the U.S. Public Health Service, the NIH, the Pan-American Health Sanitary Bureau (now the Pan American Health Organization) and the Guatemalan government. The experiments involved 696 subjects - male prisoners and female patients in the National Mental Health Hospital.
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.
Reverby, who has written extensively about the Tuskegee experiments, found the evidence while conducting further research on the Alabama syphilis study.
10 comments:
Wow this article is outrageous! I never heard about these "experiments" even though they are said to be very old. I can not believe that such cruelty was done to human beings. They really played with plenty of people's lives trying to find cures or preventions for S.T.D.S. What's sad is that they choose blacks and latinos as lab rats as though we are less then human! This shows that the United States definitely has done some cruelty!
For some reason I find this hard to believe. We sit here criticizing othe countries and states yet we do the unthinkable to theres. Thats the just horrible.
(Agree with Dbriggs)
64 years is a long time to wait to apologize.. and to 696 people who probably died by now?
wow this is one of the biggest contradictions for the Us because we claim to be so perfect and we critize other countries for thier wrong doings but we wait 64 years to apologize to people we have purposely infected and cannot cure. Then to make matters worst they chose latinos to do these experiments on. This is a prime example of how america has belittled lations for many years
I agree with everyone else that commented this article this was a real cruelty to human beings. How is it possible that the united states contribute to the death of many and used certain people to do experiment like is just unbelievable.I never heard of this but now that i did i changed my mind about the united states even though this happened many years ago, the memory of those who died should be honored and remembered.
their is no doughs that the US and other great civilizations or cultures in history has done the unthinkable to human beings. but i think it is just by nature that we have to kill humans for the benefits of other humans. this experiment in guatemala, even-thought is true that it was poorly thought and carried out, it still was intended to help other humans.
omfg like are u serious. Thats america for you no wonder america is starting to have a downfall all the bad things they've done is coming back to haunt them. this article makes my stomach hurt thats just low for any one to do.
I have never heard of the Tuskaga Experiment now im spreading the word im about to post it on fb right now!!
The U.S is evil!!!!! why would they do things like that? I rarely hear about the U.S doing evil things the U.S are always "the good guys/ the neutral guys" when we are evil ourselves also! this is shocking,; then they apologize after all the cruel actions that's absurd.
So your telling me thaat the U.S. used them like monkeys. thats completely disrespecctful and unneccessary. Then the U.S. has thenerve to apologize 30 years later....dont you think its kind of late for apologies
the united states only worries about thier personal gain and to do this to another country is unspeakable , a place where they never even heard of these types of diseases and to come and find out 60 years ago with out no permission the united states tested on mental patients as if they were lab rats ...somethings should be changed or punishable that could have or ALREADY DID change the lives of million in gautemala. 60+ years the people in office and of the unitedstates can never give a legit apology for what thier founders and people before them have done
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