Tuskegee Experiment – Guatemala Syphilis Tests US APOLOGY – The US has officially apologized for a 1940s STD study that took place in Guatemala. During the study American scientists deliberately infected a number of prisoners and patients that were located in a mental health facility in Guatemala. The main disease that was tested was syphilis. The experiment was only recently unearthed, and the discovery of the experiment prompted US officials to apologize.
The study is a shocking one that does not reflect well upon the Us government. The experiment ran from 1946 to 1948 and was discovered by a medical historian for Wesley College. The test was conducted to find out if penicillin would prevent infection with sexually transmitted diseases. There was no useful information that was gained from the study, and the fact that mental hospital patients were used in the study has infuriated human’s rights organizations.
The researcher who was involved with the test was also involved in the famous Tuskegee experiment. From 1932 to 1972 scientists also watched 600 black men in Alabama who had syphilis in Alabama, but were unaware of it. They were never offered treatment so their infection could be studied.
The secretary of the white house, Robert Gibbs, responded by saying that President Barack Obama had been briefed about the situation, and that he was making plans to call the president of the country to officially apologize. Although no one in government can still be held responsible for the tests, the situation could open up a worm hole where any other similar experiments are exposed.