The Tuskegee Syphilis Study: Some Ethical Reflections

There are established ethical principles to protect human participants in biomedical research from undue exploitation by researchers. However, in the “Tuskegee Study” in the US, these principles were grossly violated. The task of this paper is to critically examine the ethical implications of that study on future practices in biomedical research, and to suggest ways of ensuring that such practices comply with appropriate ethical values.Key Words: Bioethics, Biomedical research, clinical research, Tuskegee Study, paternalism, moralityThought and Practice: A Journal of the Philosophical Association of Kenya (PAK)New Series, Vol.3 No.2, December 2011, pp.75-9