Tuskegee Study Ethics

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Scientific research has made considerable social benefits but has brought some ethical concerns. Several codes consist of rules were enacted to assure the research involving human subjects would be carried out in an ethical manner. The principles of beneficence, respect for human dignity and justice are generally accepted in our cultural tradition and are pertinent to the ethics of research involving human subjects.
The principle of beneficence stands for above all, do not harm. Which explains, the participants in a study should not be hurt, if any harm occurs the study should be stopped. While obtaining an informed consent researchers should explain the risks, cost and benefit of the study.
The principle of respect for human dignity ensures
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Researchers told the men that they were getting treatment for bad blood, a local term used to describe several diseases such as syphilis, anemia and fatigue. Even though the men agreed freely to be examined and treated, the researchers had not informed them about the study or its real purpose. In fact the men were misled and had not been provided all the facts required to provide an informed consent. Even when the penicillin became the drug of choice for syphilis in 1947, researchers did not offer the treatment to the subjects. The subjects were never given the choice of quitting the study, even after the new highly effective treatment became widely used. Initially the project was planned for six months, but the study went on for 40 years. Tuskegee Study was ethically unjustified and the knowledge gained was sparse when compared with the risks the study posed for its subjects and caused needless pain and suffering for the men and their loved ones (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). While considering the requirements for an ethical research involving human subjects, it is evident that the studies described in Tuskegee syphilis study and Research ethics timeline did not take any of these criteria into consideration and violated the ethical principle of justice, beneficence and respect for human