African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic STD's ... - Blackherbals.com

Continued from page 8 – US Infected Gutemalans for STD
Tests
Central Penitentiary because its prisoners were allowed
to have sex with prostitutes. Some of the prostitutes
tested positive for syphilis; in other cases, doctors put
infectious material on the cervixes of uninfected
prostitutes before they had sex with prisoners.
But because so few men were getting infected, the
researchers then attempted "direct inoculations made
from syphilis bacteria poured into the men's penises and
on forearms and faces that were slightly abraded . . . or
in a few cases through spinal punctures," Reverby wrote
in a synopsis of the experiments.
They conducted similar experiments involving
gonorrhea and chancroid and on soldiers in an army
barracks and on men and women in the National Mental
Health Hospital. In some cases, the subjects drank
"syphilitic tissue mixed with distilled water," Reverby
wrote in a synopsis of the testing. Doctors used needles
to scrape the arms, faces or mouths of the women to try
to infect them.
A number of high-ranking U.S. government officials
knew about the research, including Thomas Parran Jr.,
who was then U.S. surgeon general, the documents
show. "You know, we couldn't do such an experiment in
this country," Parran said, according to Cutler. Parran
died in 1968.
The gonorrhea studies involved 772 subjects, 234 of
whom became infected and 233 of whom received
treatment, according to an investigation by the federal
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The
chancroid studies involve 142 subjects, including 138
who became infected and 129 who received treatment.
The syphilis experiments involved 497 subjects who
were exposed to the bacteria that causes the disease, 427
of whom became infected and 332 of whom received
treatment. A total of 443 of the subjects actually
developed syphilis; 331 received treatment, although
only 85 could be documented to have received full
treatment, the CDC found.
Gonorrhea can cause a variety of complications,
including infertility. Chancroid can cause painful ulcers.
Syphilis can cause blindness, major organ damage,
paralysis, dementia and death.
Seventy-one of the syphilis subjects died during the
study, including one from a fatal epileptic seizure, but it
was unclear whether any were caused by the studies. The
fates of the other subjects will be investigated, officials
said.
The researchers also took blood samples from 438
children at the National Orphanage, but in that case, they
did not purposefully infect anyone, Reverby said.
Cutler discontinued the experiments "when it proved
difficult to transfer the disease and other priorities at home
seemed more important," she wrote. The results were never
published. Cutler died in 2003.
Reverby shared her discovery last spring with David
Sencer, a retired director of the CDC, who notified current
CDC officials, leading to Friday's public disclosure.
Reverby describes the tests in a 29-page paper that will be
published in January in the Journal of Policy History.
NIH Director Francis S. Collins condemned the experiment
and said strict prohibitions are in place to prevent such
abuses from happening today.
"This case of unethical human subject research represents
an appalling example from a dark chapter in the history of
medicine," Collins told reporters during a telephone
briefing Friday.
Although Collins said it was important that the experiments
had been made public, he acknowledged that the revelation
could deepen entrenched suspicions about scientists and
doctors. The Tuskegee experiment continues to be blamed
for making many minorities reluctant to participate in
medical studies or even seek medical care.
"We are concerned about the way in which this horrendous
experiment, even though it was 60 years ago, may appear to
people hearing about it today as indicative of research
studies that are not conducted in an ethical fashion," Collins
said. "Today, the regulations that govern research funded
by the United States government, whether conducted
domestically or internationally, would absolutely prohibit
this type of study."
The National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine
will also investigate the experiment and the Presidential
Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues will form a
panel of international experts to "ensure that all human
medical research conducted around the globe today meets
rigorous ethical standards," officials said.
-9- Traditional African Clinic October 2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/10/01/AR2010100107299.html
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Guatemala STD tests 'may
have infected 2,500'
The extent of US medical experiments in Guatemala on
STDs during the 1940s is greater than previously thought,
health authorities have told the BBC.
The number of infected people could be as high as 2,500,
says the president of the Medical Association of
Guatemala. Continued on page 15