The US government "apologizes" for a criminal human experiment--PHS Sexually Transmitted Disease Inoculation Study, 1946-1948.
The experiment was conducted on 696 Guatemalan mental patients who were INTENTIONALLY
infected with gonorrhea and syphilis.
Many of those infected were encouraged to pass the infection onto others as part of the study. About one third of those who were infected never got adequate treatment.
Government
researchers infected patients with syphilis, gonorrhea without their consent in
the 1940s
Chief science and health
correspondent
NBC News NBC News
updated 10/1/2010
9:25:42 AM ET
U.S. government medical researchers intentionally infected
hundreds of people in Guatemala, including institutionalized mental patients,
with gonorrhea and syphilis without their knowledge or permission more than 60
years ago.
Many of those infected were encouraged to pass the infection onto
others as part of the study.
About one third of those who were infected never got adequate
treatment.
On Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Health and Human
Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius offered extensive apologies for actions
taken by the U.S. Public Health Service.
"The sexually transmitted disease inoculation study conducted
from 1946-1948 in Guatemala was clearly unethical," according to the joint
statement from Clinton and Sebelius. "Although these events occurred more
than 64 years ago, we are outraged that such reprehensible research could have
occurred under the guise of public health. We deeply regret that it happened,
and we apologize to all the individuals who were affected by such abhorrent
research practices."
Secretary Clinton called Guatemalan president Alvara Cabellaros
Thursday night to reaffirm the importance of the U.S. relationship with the
Latin American country.
"The people of Guatemala are our close friends and neighbors
in the Americas," the government statement says. "As we move forward
to better understand this appalling event, we reaffirm the importance of our
relationship with Guatemala, and our respect for the Guatemalan people, as well
as our commitment to the highest standards of ethics in medical research."
During a conference call Friday with National Institutes of Health
Director Francis Collins and Assistant Secretary Arturo Valenzuela, officials
noted that there were no formalized regulations regarding protection of human
studies during the 1940s.
In addition to the apology, the U.S. is setting up commissions to
ensure that human medical research conducted around the globe meets
"rigorous ethical standards." U.S. officials are also launching
investigations to uncover exactly what happened during the experiments.
The episode raises inevitable comparisons to the infamous Tuskegee
experiment, the Alabama study where hundreds of African-American men were told
they were being treated for syphilis, but in fact were denied treatment. That
U.S. government study lasted from 1932 until press reports revealed it in 1972.
The Guatemala experiments, which were conducted between 1946 and
1948, never provided any useful information and the records were hidden.
They were discovered by Susan Reverby, a professor of women's
studies at Wellesley College in Massachusetts and were posted on her website.
According to Reverby’s report, the Guatemalan project was
co-sponsored by the U.S. Public Health Service, the NIH, the Pan-American
Health Sanitary Bureau (now the Pan American Health Organization) and the
Guatemalan government. The experiments involved 696 subjects — male prisoners
and female patients in the National Mental Health Hospital.
The researchers were trying to determine whether the antibiotic
penicillin could prevent syphilis infection, not just cure it, Reverby writes.
After the subjects were infected with the syphilis bacteria — through visits
with prostitutes who had the disease and direct inoculations — it is unclear
whether they were later cured or given proper treatment, Reverby notes.
The STD experiments were conducted with the cooperation of the
Guatemalan government. During that time, the U.S. -- which had a long
association with the Guatemalan military -- exerted a powerful influence in the
Latin American country, largely in order to protect the interests of the American-based
United Fruit Company. In 1954 the U.S. CIA helped overthrow Guatemala’s
democratically elected president because of land reforms that opposed the
multinational corporation.
Reverby, who has written extensively about the Tuskegee
experiments, found the evidence while conducting further research on the
Alabama syphilis study.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, October 1, 2010
|
Contact:
HHS Press Office
202-690-6343
|
Joint
Statement by Secretaries Clinton and Sebelius on a 1946-1948 Study
Following is a joint statement by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius on the U.S. Public
Health Service Sexually Transmitted Disease Inoculation Study of 1946-1948:
The sexually transmitted disease inoculation study conducted from 1946-1948
in Guatemala was clearly unethical. Although these events occurred more than 64
years ago, we are outraged that such reprehensible research could have occurred
under the guise of public health. We deeply regret that it happened, and
we apologize to all the individuals who were affected by such abhorrent
research practices. The conduct exhibited during the study does not
represent the values of the United States, or our commitment to human dignity
and great respect for the people of Guatemala. The study is a sad
reminder that adequate human subject safeguards did not exist a half-century
ago.
Today, the regulations that govern U.S.-funded human medical research
prohibit these kinds of appalling violations. The United States is unwavering
in our commitment to ensure that all human medical studies conducted today meet
exacting U.S. and international legal and ethical standards. In the
spirit of this commitment to ethical research, we are launching a thorough
investigation into the specifics of this case from 1946. In addition,
through the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues we are
also convening a body of international experts to review and report on the most
effective methods to ensure that all human medical research conducted around
the globe today meets rigorous ethical standards.
The people of Guatemala are our close friends and neighbors in the Americas.
Our countries partner together on a range of issues, and our people are
bound together by shared values, commerce, and by the many Guatemalan Americans
who enrich our country. As we move forward to better understand this
appalling event, we reaffirm the importance of our relationship with Guatemala,
and our respect for the Guatemalan people, as well as our commitment to the
highest standards of ethics in medical research.
TEXT IN SPANISH:
Declaraciones de la secretaria de
Estado Hillary Rodham Clinton
y la secretaria de Salud y Servicios Sociales Kathleen Sebelius
sobre el Estudio de inoculación de enfermedades de transmisión sexual
del Servicio de Salud Pública de Estados Unidos de 1946 a 1948
El estudio de inoculación de enfermedades de transmisión sexual que se llevó
a cabo de 1946 a 1948 en Guatemala claramente fue antiético. Aunque estos
sucesos ocurrieron hace más de 64 años, estamos indignados de que tal
investigación reprochable haya ocurrido bajo el pretexto de la salud
pública. Lamentamos profundamente que esto haya sucedido y ofrecemos
nuestras disculpas a todas las personas que resultaron afectadas por esas
abominables prácticas de investigación. La conducta demostrada durante el
estudio no representa los valores de Estados Unidos ni nuestro compromiso con
la dignidad humana y el gran respeto hacia el pueblo de Guatemala. El
estudio es un triste recordatorio de que las garantías adecuadas para la
investigación en seres humanos no existían hace medio siglo.
En la actualidad, los reglamentos que gobiernan la investigación médica en
seres humanos financiada por Estados Unidos prohíben este tipo de violaciones
atroces. Estados Unidos es inquebrantable en su compromiso de garantizar que
todos los estudios médicos en seres humanos que se realizan en la actualidad,
cumplan con las rigurosas normas legales y éticas de Estados Unidos e
internacionales. Bajo el espíritu de este compromiso con la ética
investigativa, estamos iniciando una minuciosa investigación con respecto a los
detalles de este caso de 1946. Además, mediante la Comisión Presidencial
para el Estudio de Asuntos de Bioética, convocaremos también a un cuerpo de
especialistas internacionales para que revise e informe sobre los métodos más
eficaces para asegurar que toda investigación médica en seres humanos que se realice
en el mundo en la actualidad cumpla con rigurosas normas éticas.
El pueblo de Guatemala es uno de nuestros amigos cercanos y vecinos en las
Américas. Nuestros países son socios en una variedad de asuntos y nuestros
pueblos están vinculados por valores compartidos, comercio y por los muchos
estadounidenses de origen guatemalteco que enriquecen nuestro país. A
medida que avanzamos para comprender mejor este atroz suceso, reiteramos la
importancia de nuestra relación con Guatemala y nuestro respeto por el pueblo
guatemalteco, así como nuestro compromiso con las normas éticas más exigentes
en la investigación médica.
