【明報專訊】Between 1946 and 1948, American researchers had about 1,500 Guatemalan (危地馬拉的) citizens infected with gonorrhoea (淋病) and syphilis (梅毒) to test the efficacy of penicillin in preventing syphilis infection. The research is said to be a crime against humanity and to be as unethical as the Tuskegee experiment (conducted between 1932 and 1972). The purpose of the Tuskegee experiment, which followed 400 African-American volunteers infected with syphilis, was to study how the disease would develop. It is Wellesley College professor Susan Reverby, who has done research for her book on the Tuskegee experiment, that has uncovered the Guatemalan study.
In the Guatemalan study, little was done to ensure the experiments would attain the scientific objectives. Male prisoners, soldiers and psychopathic patients in Guatemala were used as subjects. Prostitutes who already had sexual diseases were used to infect them. Direct injections of syphilis were subsequently used. According to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 497 people were used as subjects, 443 of them were infected with syphilis, and 71 died as a result. Furthermore, 914 people participated in experiments on other sexual diseases.
■Keywords
ethical issue……道德問題
infectious disease……傳染病
■Questions
1.What was the purpose of the Guatemalan study?
2.Why is it unethical to use living humans as subjects in experiments on infectious diseases?
3.Many cosmetic companies have used animals as subjects in their experiments. Do you think that involves issues of ethics?
■Further readings
1.BBC."US medical tests in Guatemala 'crime against humanity'", 2010.10.02
2.U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov
