Protection of Human Subjects – Guatemala Syphilis Experiments

Protection of Human Subjects – Guatemala Syphilis Experiments

The Guatemala Syphilis Experiments were human experiments led by the United States carried out from 1946 to 1948 in Guatemala (Rodriguez & Garcia, 2013). John Charles Cutler led these experiments. During these experiments, doctors infected mental patients, prisoners, prostitutes, and soldiers with syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases without seeking their consent (Rodriguez & Garcia, 2013). This led to the deaths of about 83 people. The prostitutes were hired to act as a primary mode of transmission to infect the vulnerable populations mentioned above. These experiments were supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Guatemalan government, the Pan American Health Sanitary Bureau, and the Public Health Service (Jarmusik, 2015). Their goal was to determine penicillin’s effectiveness.

Reaction

During the experiments, the U.S. citizens still had fresh wounds from the trauma and atrocities they experienced during WWII and were in the process of regaining their human rights. It is very unethical to perform clinical experiments on human beings, especially when they are fighting for justice. Introducing a deadly bacterium in the citizens of Guatemalan should have been considered a criminal offense like the Nazi regime’s offenses on human rights. Not only were the doctors persecuting Guatemalan citizens but also the very institutions that are held responsible for protecting the intrinsic human rights and health of the Guatemalan citizens. The National Institute of Health, the Public Health Service, the Guatemalan government, and the Pan American Health Sanitary Bureau are institutions that citizens trust to protect against all kinds of atrocities and persecution. Still, their support for the unethical experiments betrayed their mandate and responsibilities towards the citizens. Therefore, this was a violation of intrinsic human rights and should be treated among the human rights violations crimes.

References

Jarmusik, N. (2015). The Guatemala Syphilis Experiment. https://www.imarcresearch.com/blog/bid/360094/The-Guatemala-Syphilis-Experiment

Rodriguez, M. A., & García, R. (2013). First, do no harm: the U.S. sexually transmitted disease experiments in Guatemala. American journal of public health, 103(12), 2122-2126.

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As an overview for this forum, start by reading the content page titled: Unethical Research at Home, four specific atrocities are introduced briefly.

Please search the Internet to find an electronic report on ONE of these research atrocities/human experimentation Unethical Research Examples

For this forum:

Provide the title of the Experiment or Research
Provide the date(s) of when it took place
In a 200-250 word post, give an overview of the content of your report – in your own words (Do not cut and paste – you will not receive points if you do). Then describe your reaction to what you read.
Name and describe (using the section number or titles) 1 specific standard that is now in place through the IRB: Title 45 Protection of Human Subjects that may help protect subjects from the unethical action that you discovered in your readings. Select one from the Guidebook OR the Health and Human Services link: Title 45 Protection of Human Subjects. For example, in the HHS link, I might NAME: 46.116 General Regulations for Informed Consent and then DESCRIBE, in my own words the specifics of this section.