The Tuskogee Experiments Bullshit

This piece has undergone substantial revision.

This is actually a substantially false accusation. The line that everyone has heard is that Black men infected with syphilis were simply observed over a period of years to study the progression of the illness and treatment was withheld. These men were called human guinea pigs, and this is seen to be a case of human medical experimentation. The problem with this is that most of it is true.

The study began in the 1930’s, and yes it did involve Black men who had syphilis. And it did observe the progress of the illness over a period of decades.

But there’s one crucial thing you are not being told: at the time these men were studied, the only cure for syphillis was a grueling course involving compounds containing arsenic. It was long, toxic, hard to take, and had a very low cure rate. 85% of the people who tried the treatment dropped out because they couldn’t handle it. For all intents and purposes there was no treatment for syphillis. So, sure…