In 1932, “The Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male” was a United States public health research government-funded and sanctioned experiment that lasted forty years. Contrary to popular belief, this study was not a secret. According to the “International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics,” during the first thirty years of the experiment, more than a dozen peer-reviewed papers were published in reputable journals (Brawley M.D., 1998).
From 1946 to 1948, the U.S. funded more public health research in Guatemala. This time, more than 5000 people in Guatemala were intentionally infected with bacteria that cause sexually transmitted diseases. These people were not informed that they were being infected and, therefore, were nonconsenting (Rodriguez & García, 2013). If you are wondering, the citizens of Guatemala were infected with syphilis, gonorrhea, and chancroid. This “study” was never published and came to light only in 2010.
Which brings me to the title of this blog post. “Race medicine” is the practice of diagnosing and treating a patient based on their ethnicity. Despite it being scientifically flawed, socially harmful, and adding to racial medical disparities, race-based medicine was officially used in the US well into the 1970s. If you really believe it was stopped, then I have two words that should make you rethink your position- opioid crisis.
Don’t believe me? Look into it for yourself. But here’s a clue: Enough doctors believe that Black and Hispanic patients have a significantly higher pain tolerance, which is why White patients are substantially more likely to be prescribed potent opioids like OxyContin. (I considered framing the previous statement as past tense, but nothing has changed except for the fact that now being white AND middle-class increases a patient’s odds of being prescribed opioids.)
References
Alsan, M., Wanamaker, M., & Hardeman, R. R. (2020). The tuskegee study of untreated syphilis: A case study in peripheral trauma with implications for health professionals. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 35(1), 322–325. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-019-05309-8
Brawley M.D., O. W. (1998). The Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male. International Journal of Radiation OncologyBiologyPhysics, 40(1), 5–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0360-3016(97)00835-3
Rodriguez, M. A., & García, R. (2013). First, Do No Harm: The US Sexually Transmitted Disease Experiments in Guatemala. American Journal of Public Health, 103(12), 2122–2126. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2013.301520
