5 Unethical Medical Experiments That Used Black People As Guinea Pigs

Tuskegee Syphilis Study The Tuskegee Syphilis Study is still recognized today as one of the most notorious cases of prolonged and knowing violation of human subjects, according to a report titled “Why African Americans May Not Be Participating in Clinical Trials.” The study used mostly poor, illiterate Blacks who were infected with syphilis. “The study was designed to document the natural history of syphilis,” the report states. One of the main ethical issues, though there were many with this study, was the fact that participants were not given penicillin once it emerged as a standard treatment for syphilis in the 1930s nor were they made aware that there were effective treatment options for the disease. CDC Study of Experimental MMR Vaccines Earlier this year reports emerged that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was hiding results from a test of experimental measles vaccines that actually increased the likelihood of Black children developing autism. Back in September, Dr. William Thompson, who has been with the CDC for more than 10 years, told The Examiner that the authors of the study manipulated and hid data that proved Black babies were more than three times more likely to develop regressive autism if they were given the vaccine before the age of 3. Parents of the Black babies who were receiving the vaccines were not made aware of the risk of their child developing autism. Surgical Experiments on Enslaved People All throughout slavery, enslaved Black people were subjected to countless cruel and inhuman medical studies and experiments. Perhaps one of the most famous examples came from J. Marion Sims who some still hail as the “father of modern gynecology,” according to Live Science. Sims conducted multiple experiments on enslaved women in order to treat vesico-vaginal fistula, a condition that caused a great deal of pain. Sims performed surgeries on the women without using any anesthesia because he believed the operations weren’t “painful enough to justify the trouble,” he said during a lecture in 1857. The Cloning of Henrietta Lacks’ Cells Henrietta Lacks was the source of the first line of immortal human cells to ever be cloned back in the 1950s, but the removal of her cells was done without her permission or knowledge. Doctors noticed that Lacks’ cells were able to stay alive for longer periods of time than previous cells, so in order to conduct research they removed two samples of her cervix during surgery – one part that was healthy and one part that was cancerous. Researchers have grown roughly 20 tons of her cells since her death. In addition to harvesting Lacks’ cells without her knowledge or permission, researchers also published the family’s medical records without their consent. Sara Baartman, the 'Hottentot Venus' Sara Baartman was only 20 years old when her life changed forever. She was one of two Khoikhoi women who were put on display across Europe as a part of a “freak show” attraction. The women were referred to as “Hottentot Venus.” Hottentot used to be the name used to refer to Khoi people, but it is now considered to be a racist term and Venus was in reference to the Roman goddess of love. In the early 1800s, Baartman was the subject of scientific and medical research in France. Despite constant legal battles to try to get the woman released back to her home, she remained in European custody for what they considered to be scientific research. After she died, researchers kept her sexual organs and her brain and put them on display in the Musee de I’Homme in Paris.

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