Enduring Ethical Lessons from the Past: Learning from the USPHS Syphilis Study at Tuskegee
Channel: HMS Center for Bioethics
Date: 2021-02-12

The United States Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee is used as a case study of the exploitation of communities of color at the hands of medical professionals. What are the lessons learned and how far has medical ethics really come in terms of the treatment of Black and other communities of color? Lillie Head, president of Voices for Our Fathers Legacy Foundation, and Riggins R. Earl, Jr., PhD, professor of ethics and theology, Interdenominational Theological Center, discussed the study, its legacy and impact on the 623 unknowing participants.

This event was part of the 2021 Black History Month series, created in partnership by the Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics and the Tuskegee University National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care. The series will examine the history of racism in medicine, its impact on Black individuals and the Black community, and gathering solutions for a healthier future from experts and thought leaders in history, health policy and law, social justice, and public health and medicine. Learn more:
 
https://bioethics.hms.harvard.edu/events/black-history-month-event-series