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Nearly 65 years after the U.S. Public
Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee
began, President Clinton apologized for the
U.S. government's role in the research
study, which was carried out in Macon
County, Alabama, from 1932 to 1972.
The United States Public Health Service, in
trying to learn more about syphilis and
justify treatment programs for blacks,
withheld adequate treatment from a group of
poor black men who had the disease, causing
needless pain and suffering for the men and
their loved ones.
In the wake of the Tuskegee Study and
other studies, the federal government took a closer look
at research involving human subjects and
made changes to prevent the moral breaches
that occurred in Tuskegee from happening
again.
SERVING THOSE WHO SERVED: The Tuskegee
Health Benefit Program
 The
Tuskegee Health Benefit Program is a
congressionally mandated program that
provides comprehensive lifetime medical
and health benefits to the affected widows and
offspring of study participants.
A total of 17 widows, children, and
grandchildren are currently receiving
benefits. The vast majority of the
participants reside in the Alabama area,
while others live in the Midwestern and
Northeastern parts of the United States.
Annual visits are made to the clients
to ensure that they are receiving medical
services without any problems, and to resolve
any health-related problems they may be
experiencing. The visits also enable the
program staff and health care
representatives the opportunity to interact
on a personal basis about the clients'
health care needs.
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