U.S. Apologizes to Guatemala for Syphilis Study

The U.S. apologized Friday for 1940s government-sponsored experiments in which hundreds of Guatemalan prisoners, soldiers and mentally ill patients were intentionally infected with sexually transmitted diseases.

The subjects were infected with syphilis or gonorrhea, without their consent, as part of the experiments conducted between 1946 and 1948 by researchers in the U.S. Public Health Service. They were infected through injection or by way of prostitutes who were allowed to visit prisoners. Then the subjects were treated with penicillin. About 1,500 study subjects were involved, according to the U.S.

The aim of the research—conducted with cooperation from some Guatemalan officials—was to determine whether the relatively new antibiotic could be used to prevent infection after exposure to the diseases. The results were never published.

The study was brought to the U.S. government's attention this summer by Wellesley College historian Susan Reverby. It reflects a new development in a dark corner in the history of medical research that led, starting in the 1970s, to regulations to protect human participants.

Source: online.wsj.com...

Nothing new about this.

The criminal U.S. government has even used the American population as their guinea pigs (though I won't cover it on this thread).

US apologizes to Guatemala for 1940s study that infected prisoners with syphilis

WASHINGTON — American scientists deliberately infected prisoners and patients in a mental hospital in Guatemala with syphilis 60 years ago, a recently unearthed experiment that prompted U.S. officials to apologize Friday and declare outrage over "such reprehensible research." The discovery dredges up past wrongs in the name of science — like the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study in this country that has long dampened minority participation in medical research — and could complicate ongoing studies overseas that depend on cooperation from some of the world's poorest countries to tackle tough-to-treat diseases. Uncovering it gives "us all a chance to look at this and — even as we are appalled at what was done — to redouble our efforts to make sure something like this could never happen again," said Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health. The NIH-funded experiment, which ran from 1946 to 1948, was uncovered by a Wellesley College medical historian. It apparently was conducted to test if penicillin, then relatively new, could prevent some sexually transmitted infections. The study came up with no useful information and was hidden for decades.

U.S. apologizes for syphilis experiment in Guatemala

The United States apologized Friday for an experiment in the 1940s in which government researchers deliberately infected Guatemalan prison inmates, women and mental patients with syphilis. In the experiment, aimed at testing the then-new drug penicillin, inmates were infected by prostitutes and later treated with the antibiotic. "The sexually transmitted disease inoculation study conducted from 1946-1948 in Guatemala was clearly unethical," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement. "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 statement said.

U.S. apologizes for abhorrent syphilis study in Guatemala

MEXICO CITY — Exposing a dark page in its history, the U.S. government acknowledged Friday that government scientists had infected some 1,500 Guatemalans with syphilis and gonorrhea in experiments from 1946 to 1948 in "appalling violations" of medical ethics. U.S. scientists infected prostitutes with syphilis or gonorrhea and sent them to have unprotected sex with soldiers or prison inmates, later testing them for possible cures, U.S. officials said. When few became infected, scientists turned to patients at a mental health hospital, exposing them to infection by rubbing it on their genitals. None of the subjects were informed about the study or offered consent, U.S. officials said. At least one patient is known to have died. "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," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a joint statement. Read more: www.mcclatchydc.com...

Ladies and gentlemen, this apology for the scientific syphilis infections has come long overdue. Monetary reparations to any living descendants of the infected Guatemalans would be a good idea.

Unfortunately, similar scientific programs are currently in operation today under the guise of public health, especially in Third World nations, where vaccines are intentionally and secretly laced with sterilizing viruses.

reply to post by ironfalcon


Susan Reverby might want to research syphilis, South Africa and eli lily as well. It seems there are a number of references even using the dreaded Google. Experimentation happens all over the world and if I remember correctly, the numbers were considerably higher in SA, but a few orders of magnitude.

Cheers - Dave