Hearing and Syphilis Victims in the US

1. Quotes and Questions

Jean Heller Reading

• Quote: “However, of the 400 men in the original syphilitic group, 154 died of heart disease that officials in Atlanta said was not specifically related to syphilis. Dr. Millar said that this rate was identical with the rate of cardiovascular deaths in the control, or non-syphilis, group.”
• Question: Despite the fact that the findings of the research did not indicate any particular correlation between syphilis and the development of cardiovascular diseases, is it possible to state that the study resulted in any discovery?
• Answer: Yes, because the correlation between these two diseases is strange and peculiar.

“Hearings Before the Senate”

• Quote: “There are no regulations on dispensing DES, and no records are kept.”
• Question: “Do you think that it would be possible to suggest better outcomes in the case of a more advanced control system regarding the use and dispensing of DES?”
• Answer: Yes, because the data is related to the control system, and, as a result, there might be mistakes in the research.

2. Art History Reaction
There were times when posters with beautiful women on them were popular. They warned strongly of the danger of unprotected communications with unfamiliar people. In this way, the authors wanted to warn the citizens, and make them evaluate not only the women’s appearance, but also their state of health. Man should have been careful when they communicated with these women because they could never be sure if she would bring him plesure, or an illness instead. Moreover, syphilis is a strong illness, which provoke the development of a massive number of another disease. Infection is transmitted sexually and can cause a fatal outcome. In 1932 a terrible experiment with about 600 black men called the Tuskegee Study has begun. Therefore, a lot of innocent people suffered and even died because of doctors’ interest in actions of crucial syphilis bacterium Treponema pallidum and its ways of awful influence on human’s body. The photo is a poster that calls people to be cautious in choosing a sexual partner and emphasizes the seriousness of the problem of sexually transmitted diseases. It is also important to note that people need to be aware of the problem and know how they can protect themselves from diseases such as syphilis.

The sense of this experiment is bringing shock as the investigation of disease’s impact was held by autopsies. The eye is drawn to the fact of health service officials lie as participants were promised to get free meals, medicine, and transport to home in exchange for their death and body. “No subject was treated during the study, even after 1945, when penicillin became widely available”(Quality of health care – human experimentation). The target audience of this investigation was and still is the rank of people closely connected with medicine though their opinions on this inquiry are quite distinctive. Hence, victims of the experiment went untreated after 40 years of the investigation though the process was not hidden from the authority. Medicines were available and could cure ill men, but the obsession of resultative inquiry was stronger. They asserted that people were allowed to get drugs, but no one denied, and medical men didn’t insist. That was an unknown and serious disease at that time, and people did not know what to expect. However, with the passage of time, we have all the knowledge about the risks of that illness, and should always consider them before making a rash decision.

Works Cited
Heller, Jean. “Syphilis Victims in U.S. Study Went Untreated for 40 Years.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 26 July 1972, www.nytimes.com/1972/07/26/archives/syphilis-victims-in-us-study-went-untreated-for-40-years-syphilis.html.

Quality of Health Care– Human Experimentation, 1973: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, United States Senate, Ninety- Third Congress, First Session, on S. 974 . U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1973, p. 330.