U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee

Tuskegee Study, 1932-1972

Nearly 65 years after the U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee began, President Clinton apologized for the U.S. government's role in the research study, which was carried out in Macon County, Alabama, from 1932 to 1972.

The United States Public Health Service, in trying to learn more about syphilis and justify treatment programs for blacks, withheld adequate treatment from a group of poor black men who had the disease, causing needless pain and suffering for the men and their loved ones.

In the wake of the U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee and other studies, the federal government took a closer look at research involving human subjects and made changes to prevent the moral breaches that occurred in Tuskegee from happening again.

The Tuskegee Health Benefit Program

The Tuskegee Health Benefit Program (THBP) is a congressionally mandated program that provides comprehensive lifetime medical and health benefits to the affected widows and offspring of study participants. There are 12 offspring currently receiving medical and health benefits.