Whistleblowing Definition: This Top 6 Should Clear It Up For You

No. 5: The Syphilis Experiments and Peter Buxton

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While medical experiments are necessary for creating new drugs and treatments, sometimes things are taken to an extreme. For four decades, the US Department of Health endorsed an experiment that involved observing the progression of syphilis, when left untreated. The problem with this? The study pretty much used unassuming African-Americans as guinea pigs. Not only were they not treated, despite the fact that the cure for syphilis had been discovered, they were also lied to in regards to the nature of their disease. When Peter Buxton joined the study in 1966, he immediately became concerned regarding the lack of morality and ethics and went to the papers with his story.