Racism and research: Case of Tuskegee

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Racism and Research: The Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.

Racism and Research was a study conducted by Allan M. Brandt on occurrence of racism when it comes to scientific research using the case of Tuskegee Syphilis as his case study. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study was a study conducted on African-American men to observe the natural occurrence of syphilis on them. The study was carried out by researchers who took 600 black men, 399 with syphilis 201 without and conducted the study without their knowledge. The researchers told the men that their blood was being taken to test for bad blood hence the participants were unaware of what was being really done. The researchers made sure that the 399 men with syphilis remained unaware of possible penicillin treatment so as to continue with their study. The study was conducted for up to 40 years when an Associated Press story exposed what had been going on. Allan M. Brandt is medicine historian and Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University. Allan M. Brandt wrote an article by the name Racism and Research: The Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, to show the racial background behind the Tuskegee Syphilis study (Brandt, 2012).

Tuskegee research raised a lot of question whether it was valid or not. Brandt in his research wanted to find out if racism played a role in certain scientific research. The research questions involved in this study included

Did the participants have enough knowledge on the research that was conducted on them?

Was the Public Health Service and Tuskegee Institute justified to conduct the research?

Did racism play a par in these scientific research?

In order to conduct the research, Allan Brandt came up with hypotheses that would have helped him arrive to his findings

H0 The Tuskegee research was justified and ethical and had no impact on African Americans.

H1 The Tuskegee research conducted on young African American men was racist, had an impact on trust between African – Americans and health care providers

In testing the hypothesis, Allan used qualitative research method to gather his data which involved extensive document analysis. This data selection method involved getting all material on the Tuskegee research and compiling them. He also used material from other authors who had weighed in on the matter determining how ethical or unethical the research was. In selecting the participants of the Tuskegee study, Dr. Raymond Vonderlehr assembled men who would be sampled and stated that they were being tested for bad blood a term that was used to describe cases such as syphilis and anemia. They went through thorough examination including x-rays and spinal tab in order to know their incidence of neuro-syphilis. The research had been conducted in good faith as United States Public Health Service had promised the Macon County that they would treat the people who had been infected. Allan also got hold of conversation between Clark and Dr. Vonderlehr that helped out in his research.

The research by Allan Brandt had the following findings; the Tuskegee syphilis study showed that major ethical issues in the medical research field needed to be looked into to avoid the repeat of such a study. One of the key issues of the Tuskegee study was lack of informed consent. The 600 participants of the case had been misled to take part in the research by being lied to that the research was about testing for bad blood but in the real sense it was to check the nature of syphilis among black men. The researchers were supposed to let all their subjects know about all the aspects of the research but since they knew it would greatly affect their willingness to participate, they didn’t inform them.

Another major ethical issue was brought about by the withholding of any form of treatment that could be offered to the 399 black men with syphilis, for the purpose of their research. The 399 syphilis suffering patients were not given welfare consideration since they were not informed of the penicillin treatment. Researchers who took part in the Tuskegee study tried to justify themselves that penicillin was not yet proven to be the best option for curing syphilis since it had negative effects on patients. A group of physicians believed that it was better to deal with the minimal damages of penicillin while another felt the drug would lead to much harm. The claims of the penicillin effect on patients did not justify that subjects should have been given a choice about continuing in the study once penicillin was available.

According to Allan M. Brandt research article, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study occurred at a time when Darwinism gave a new angle for American racism. Some people believed that primitive peoples, could not reach the level of white civilization. Scientists claimed that the African Americans were doomed in the struggle for survival. Cultural diversity is the existent of many ethnic or cultural groups in society. There existed a cultural diversity among the white and African American that led to racism since the white thought of themselves as superiors. The Tuskegee syphilis study was meant to evaluate the natural progression of syphilis in black men because white men believed their syphilis cases were different from those of black men. White Americans thought there were health disparities hence their syphilis would not be the same as that of the African Americans (Tuskegee syphilis experiment).

White Americans had based their superiority from Darwinism which claimed that man evolved from monkeys. Whites thought that the black man was closer to the monkeys in the evolution chain and they were highest. Many scientists then went on to say that African Americans were not likely to survive as time goes by due to evolution. The claims made by the white scientists were wrong for the African American only has more melanin compared to them hence his darkness. Due to the superiority belief that the whites had, they went on to try and enslave the blacks as well as oppress them for they believed they were powerful and more superior to the other race hence the lying in the Tuskegee report to the African Americans and the use of knowledge to their advantage.

Empathy was not shown in the olden days since White Americans saw themselves being more superior. The whites thought that all other races were primitive and did not have a chance in survival. The lack of empathy for other races led to them mistreating them and seeing them as animals rather than humans hence slavery occurred. The Tuskegee study confirms that the researchers who were whites, lacked empathy for the blacks for they conducted the study without their consent and did so for 40 years. Even when a treatment was available, though it had side effects, they did not care to inform their subjects but went on to take blood in the name of bad blood finding. It is due to the notion that the white men created that they are more superior that causes them to have empathy towards other cultures and races.

An African-American patient’s attitude towards a medical research was measured. African American’s mistrust doctors, scientists, and the government due to unethical conduct of previous cases. African Americans are treated poorly than the White Americans hence they have a negative attitude towards researches done by the medical body. In the Tuskegee study, the African Americans could have been pressured to agree to the study or might have not understood what they were getting themselves into. As a result of an attitude towards authoritative figures such as nurses and doctors, they were forced to sign the contracts for agreement.

Future directions that were proposed for the research were recommendations to be put in place on how research could be conducted. Although research may be conducted on a man to save his life or that of others, then participants need to be on the know of what research is being conducted on them and the future implications that the research may have. Racism needs to be dealt with as at times subjects of African Americans get experiments done on them without full knowledge and tend to be treated differently than the white participants, In the case of the Tuskegee Study, it revealed more about the case of racism as compared to a study on syphilis. The study also had an impact on why most African Americans are still wary of health care providers.

The Tuskegee syphilis report has over the years led to a global self-awareness of the public health. The Tuskegee study has led to ethical standards being given much importance such that everyone is given the right to make formal decisions that could change their dignity, justice to be offered to all hence no segregation of a certain group, and also the health of an individual to be given priority. (The Tuskegee Syphilis Study and Its Implications for the 21st Century, 2015) Tuskegee serves as a very good example of unethical practice all over the world for it portrays racism, lack of empathy and a bad attitude towards others.

Reference

Brandt, Allan M. (2012). "Racism and research: The case of the Tuskegee Syphilis study." The Hastings Center Report 8(6): 21-29.