https://yt3.ggpht.com/XcgU6c_Jdj9hE_NgWTWX70PXh5Bgo_Pfyj-n8a32h2a4PijLxMcUFFMK8KjMjNox_hI_UpSqGOQk=s640
https://yt3.ggpht.com/Bpvvh1zFScCfmhstWmlyUctEO6QdMPsnMuqoWHBuRgTXGkHFPMAA4sKTsPHdoBPu76i_l0BbJUNlSrI=s640
https://yt3.ggpht.com/N3unOD85Xit2vxbjPdO-tZaHJWMyo91glaZMnXh2vr3ph3BD9Gy1yxP7BF0oLFFVsqvEs4WqT2_AYw=s640
https://yt3.ggpht.com/zxBq6aS7S4bT_i8bpQnzYhGEXQRHeS5zYAG72gtm2nxP4XKKoi9EEx6ItIenAyu9PyquE8TXIHf4cG8=s640
https://yt3.ggpht.com/JBR_BjcZluk53WMuQospjVkwpPbO9wpiDsLVkBRQjYHjz-Zhelp6FkCyQoOy10g0YGek9apSZlWQ95o=s640

"On July 25, 1972, the Tuskegee syphilis experiments were exposed to the world. In the experiments, Black men were systematically infected with and killed using syphilis for “research purposes.” 

In 1932, the US Public Health Service started a medical study of syphilis in Tuskegee, Alabama. The area had one of the highest rates of infection.

In the middle of the Great Depression, the government recruited 600 impoverished Black men to participate by providing them with free transportation, free hot meals, and free medical treatments for ailments other than syphilis, as well as burial insurance.  

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection that, if left untreated, can lead to skin lesions, blindness, deafness, meningitis, heart disease, and death. In its early stages, it can be treated with just one shot of penicillin.

The researchers injected the men with syphilis, intending to kill them and dissect their bodies afterward. Participants were told they were being treated for “bad blood” and were given only iron tonic and aspirin during the 40-year-long study.

In 1947, penicillin was shown to cure syphilis and became widely available. Yet, for decades afterward, the government forbade these Black men from receiving treatment. 

Of the 600 participants, around 200 were forced to suffer the effects of the infection and allowed to spread it to their families. 128 participants died, 40 wives were infected, and 19 children were born with congenital syphilis. 

Due to mass outrage over the medical abuse, the participants and their families were awarded $9 million in a settlement with the government. However, an undisclosed amount remains in court-controlled accounts and is being denied to descendants of those medically maimed.

It was only in 1997 that the US government issued a formal apology under President Bill Clinton. However, no one was ever prosecuted for this state-sponsored medical abuse. 

The Tuskegee experiments are just one of many instances of medical abuse of Black people in the US. It remains a key reason why some Black people distrust doctors and the medical field at large."

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqDHwyuYggv2OQOtvQbdTHA

#grownostr #US