NIH recently debuted a plaque honoring the memory of the African American men unethically treated in the U.S. Public Health Service Untreated Syphilis Study and the 50th anniversary of the National Research Act at the National Library of Medicine herb garden, across from Bldg. 38, on Sept. 19, 2024.
“This plaque shines a light on the injustices of the past, not letting us forget them so they are never repeated,” said NIH Director Dr. Monica Bertagnolli during the dedication ceremony. “NIH is committed to making biomedical research inclusive and accessible for everyone.”
In 1932, the study began in Alabama. Originally called the “United States Public Health Service Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male at Tuskegee and Macon County, Alabama,” the study enrolled 625 African American men. Researchers conducting the study did not obtain informed consent and did not offer treatment, even after it was widely available…
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