Tuskegee Study, 1932-1972
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 U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee 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.
The Tuskegee Health Benefit Program
The Tuskegee Health Benefit Program (THBP) is a congressionally mandated program that provides comprehensive lifetime medical and health benefits to the affected widows and offspring of study participants. There are 14 children and two grandchildren currently receiving medical and health benefits. The majority of the participants reside in the Georgia; others live in the Southeastern and Midwestern parts of the United States.
Annual visits are made to the clients to ensure that they are receiving medical services and to resolve any health-related problems they may be experiencing. The visits also allow the program staff and health care representatives the opportunity to interact on a personal basis about the clients' health care needs.
