Week 2: Tuskegee Syphilis Study Apology

In the Tuskegee Syphilis study, nearly 400 poor African-American men from Macon County, Alabama were openly deceived and deprived treatment for syphilis to be used to study the course of the disease until termination. They were told that they would receive medical care at no cost when in reality the researchers did everything in their power to keep the men from the simple doses of penicillin that would cure the disease. Several of the participants in the study died as a result of the disease while many more were permanently left physically or mentally crippled. In the apology, President Clinton openly stated that these men were betrayed by our government and that although the government is supposed to protect the rights of its citizens, in this case they were trampled on. He also noted how important it is that we remember this event in our history so that we can make amends and go forward as a nation.
My reaction to the apology is mixed. On one side it is hard for me to take an apology for something like this that was made so long after the study ended seriously. It took our government over 20 years to apologize for this act that was so obviously a violation of these peoples right guaranteed to them in our constitution. The fact that the study lasted as long as it did is deplorable and to add an apology so long over due can only be described as pathetic. On the other hand, it is important that our government is willing to publicly state that it was wrong and that they commit to making sure things such as this never happen again. They say that if you can not learn from your history then you are doomed to repeat it. Thankfully, with the government's dedication to biomedical ethics, something like this will never happen again.