The American metaphor for medical racism, government malfeasance, and physician arrogance that is the 40-year Tuskegee Syphilis Study is analyzed in Examining Tuskegee. The notorious study of untreated syphilis, which took place in and around Tuskegee, Alabama, from the 1930s through the 1970s, involved hundreds of African American men, most of whom were actually told by doctors from the U.S. Public Health Service that they were being treated, not just watched, for their late-stage syphilis.
Author Susan M. Reverby examines the study and its aftermath from multiple perspectives to explain what happened and why the study has such power in our collective memory. She follows the study’s repercussions in facts and fictions, highlighting the many uncertainties that dogged the study during its four decades and explores the newly available medical records.
We at Wonders & Marvels have three (3) copies of Examining Tuskegee available as our giveaway. To enter, simply comment by 11:59 p.m. EST Thursday, March 25, 2010 in response to this question:
What aspect of American health-care today needs to have greater transparency?
Good luck! (Sorry, at this time we can only ship to winners in the U.S.)
