The Study was junk science from the outset, yet the premise and conditions of the experiment were never hidden from nor objected to by the scientific community--published in respected journals through the early 70's. The revelation was made by a journalist who chanced on the story and exposed it to the general public in a newspaper. I've read all the articles published by the Tuskegee researchers, and apart from the one written by Eunice Rivers (who technically was not a researcher--I'm working on a discussion of her article), they're all written in a detached, impersonal scientific style (lots of tables and charts)--no apologies or second thoughts, not even any justification for the egregious harm inflicted on the victims and their families. It's not just the researchers who are responsible but everyone in the medical community who read these articles and didn't object. Not surprisingly these articles aren't different in tone or philosophy from other documentation of non-consensual experimentation in America (or Nazi Germany for that matter, e.g. the hypothermia experiments on Jews). Not only does the promise of scientific knowledge justify inhumane treatment of human subjects, it encourages lying about the inhumanity required.
To the best of my knowledge, the Tuskegee Study was the only nonconsensual experiment conducted exclusively on Blacks, but many other nonconsensual experiments included Black people. The common denominator was that all the subjects (i.e. victims) were disadvantaged (children, prisoners, women (pregnant women!!!), elderly Jewish patients, and others). All were lied to or misinformed (including the parents of mentally challenged children). No such experiments were performed on elected officials or stockbrokers.
I'm not claiming that all doctors and bureaucrats are guilty of this kind of unforgivable violation of medical ethics and humane behavior, but the guilt extends far beyond the researchers themselves. (Check out the letter that Surgeon General David Satcher sent out to the belatedly acknowledged victims of the Tuskegee Study. It's a clear case of medical professionals and political appointees covering their collective behinds.)
