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PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE — UNCOVERED 1972Declassified 1972-07-25// conspiracies
Tuskegee Syphilis Study
40-year U.S. Public Health Service experiment that knowingly withheld syphilis treatment from 399 Black men in Macon County, Alabama.
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Overview
From 1932 to 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service conducted a study of untreated syphilis in 399 impoverished African American sharecroppers in Macon County, Alabama. Subjects were told they were being treated for 'bad blood.' Even after penicillin became standard cure in 1947, treatment was deliberately withheld. The study was exposed by Associated Press journalist Jean Heller in July 1972.
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Timeline
- 1932Study begins with 399 syphilitic men and 201 controls.
- 1947Penicillin established as cure — subjects denied treatment.
- 1972-07-25Jean Heller's AP exposé published nationwide.
- 1997-05-16President Clinton issues formal apology on behalf of the U.S. government.
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Evidence on Record
- 01CDC archival records; National Archives RG 442
- 02Final Report of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Ad Hoc Advisory Panel (1973)
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Theories & Disputes
THEORY A
Study contributed directly to passage of the National Research Act (1974) and creation of the Belmont Report (1979).
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