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Clinton to apologize for Tuskegee syphilis experiment
April 8, 1997
Web posted at: 11:45 p.m. EDT (0345 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Clinton will offer a formal apology for the notorious "Tuskegee experiment," in which black men suffering from syphilis were left untreated for years so the government could study the disease, the White House said Tuesday.
The announcement came as four survivors of the experiment met at a church in Notasulga, Alabama, and held a news conference to demand a meeting with Clinton and an apology from the government. There are eight survivors in all, the youngest of whom is 87.
The White House did not say whether that affected the president's decision, but a spokeswoman said Clinton would issue the apology soon.
'A blight on our record'
"The president feels it's a blight on our record and it should be rectified," said White House spokeswoman Mary Ellen Glynn.
More than 600 African-American men were part of the secret syphilis study conducted in Tuskegee, Alabama, between 1932 and 1972.
Nearly 400 had syphilis. Although they thought they were being treated for the sexually transmitted disease, they were getting only placebos. Doctors withheld penicillin, the standard treatment since 1947, so they could study the progress of the disease.
The study, made public in 1972, was conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service, which is now part of the Department of Health and Human Services.
'Used as human guinea pigs'
"In 1932, these men were taken advantage of by being used as human guinea pigs," said their lawyer, Fred Gray. "Their lives were placed in jeopardy ... without their knowledge or consent."
Gray also criticized a recent HBO film, "Miss Evers' Boys," for using fictional characters in its depiction of the Tuskegee experiment.
He complained that the film portrayed the study's victims as racial stereotypes, and said the movie appeared to impart some blame for the grim experiment on black health-care professionals, when the full blame should rest on the government.
Kip Konwiser, producer of the HBO film, defended the historical accuracy of "Miss Evers' Boys" and rejected any suggestion the characters were stereotypes.
"This is one heck of a historically accurate film and it still managed to be entertaining," Konwiser said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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