The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, also known as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, was a clinical study conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) between 1932 and 1972. The study was conducted in Tuskegee, Alabama, and involved 600 poor, rural African American men, of whom 399 had syphilis and 201 did not.

The purpose of the study was to observe the natural progression of untreated syphilis in men. Participants in the study were told that they were being treated for "bad blood," a term that was commonly used to describe a variety of ailments in the region. However, they were not actually given treatment for syphilis, even though a cure for the disease had been developed.

The study was conducted without the participants' informed consent and was kept secret for decades. It was not until 1972, when a leak to the press exposed the study, that it was finally terminated.

The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment is considered a grave injustice and a violation of the ethical principles of informed consent and beneficence. It is seen as a dark chapter in the history of medical research in the United States and has had a lasting impact on the trust of African Americans in the medical community. In 1997, President Bill Clinton apologized on behalf of the U.S. government for the study, and in 1999, the USPHS established the Office of Human Research Protections to ensure that research involving human subjects is conducted ethically.

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