Upon reading the documents about the research conducted in Tuskegee which essentially was a set of murders or different forms of torture to unknowledgable patients and volenteers who simply needed some support for their families. This is just one classic case with an unbelievable background to it where science and research lost sight of what and who is involved in the advancement of a professional field. From a personal perspective I can understand how easy it is to loss track of simple details when it comes to research such as that human beings are involved and they need to be given constant respect for their participation. Although for this past set of research it not only crossed the line but ran over a mile past it by leading up to other smaller sets of research which essentially killed their patients for conclusion purposes. This is one of the pieces of history that every single generation should learn about so the history such as this is never repeated again. Luckly in this modern age this type of medical horror is never repeated and if it is it is at least not on the same level as this point in history. However, I have one question to raise. If you were a research dedicating your life to finding one single conclusion to be positive do you think you might forget the basic instinct of keeping basic human rights intact?
-William Webster
I found this post and the articles really interesting. Having a History Concentration made me take so many American History courses, and I've never heard of this, not even the small mention at all. It's crazy to think of how much can be kept quiet. But also, you're question is awesome. I would totally think of that too, considering the research they're trying to gather in the first place. Crazy stuff.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the question asked, I think it's a great proposal to think about. As for my self I don't see how I could every put someone through such torture to not even get medically and scientifically valid results, at least under terms that would be followed today. I also think it sort of defeats the purpose of the study. The researchers and medical doctors are trying to find a cure to syphilis, or at least find out more about it, yet they are hurting many people in the process. So it sort of seems hypocritical that they want to stop the suffering of the patients yet they are putting them through equal or more pain and suffering than the disease does.
ReplyDeleteI would never put any patients through torture just to try to get some information. I feel that doing experiments on people because they have a specific race or gender is inexcusable. I feel that medical experiments are unethical, because they violate the human rights of the people participating. I think its crazy that we think we know our American History, but we don't, as we can see through these medical experiments. It just goes to show that our history hides many of these experiments, and it seems like historians try to hid our actions of the past, because we don't want to be known fro torturing people for medical experiments.
ReplyDeleteIn research I think it would be easy to get so involved and come to the point of despiration where you would try anything and do anything. But, at the expense of human lives I would never put the drive and hunger for knowledge before the participants involved. Because if you overstep your place or authority, you lose all accredability and then everything you worked for is compromised. I rather use moral and sound judgment than to threaten lives just to get ahead as a researcher in this case. In this Tuskegee study I think the researchers were out of line and violated the rights of the patients.
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