Part of U.S. Compensation for Syphilis
Experiments Should Aid Undocumented Guatemalans
"The
government must proceed with the goal of obtaining a benefit for Guatemalans
living today, and the theme is simple: negotiate with Washington to do
something for those who reside in the United States. It’s a negotiation based
on how to achieve tangible relief - an action through which you can begin
talking of forgiving and forgetting, or forgetting and forgiving. The door is
open. It’s a matter of crossing the threshold."
Medical historian Susan M. Reverby stumbled upon the Guatemala research while exploring the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study in the United States. The revelation has forced President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton to express shock and revulsion over the unconscionable involuntary use of Guatemalans as medical subjects.
In my opinion, as the days
and weeks go by, public revelations will continue to emerge about letters
exchanged between medical authorities of the time, from which it will be very
easy to recognize that doubts or certainties existed about everything that was
so unethical about a program that is impossible to justify for any reason -
even given the reality of the lack of consideration for the inhumane side of advancing
medical science at this distant time.
The letters of Dr. John Cutler
leave no room for doubt. They point out, as Presna Libre reported
yesterday, his concern that the experiment would be ruined if any word of it was
leaked to the “wrong people.” With that, in my opinion, it can be interpreted
without fear of damaging or compromising the reputations of the senior
Guatemalan authorities at the time, who may have been related to the case; for
example Dr. Juan José Arévalo and the Health Minister Dr. Carlos Herrarte. Their
brilliant record of service to Guatemala is reason enough not to intentionally
tarnish them, because without being a genuine monster, no one would authorize the
intentional injection of syphilis, gonorrhea and chancroid into any human
being. Period.
Nor should anyone be surprised
at the proliferation of messages of condemnation expressed in many countries against
these quasi-diabolical experiments. They can only be explained as the act of a mad
scientist trying to make progress in a particular field of medicine, and in
this case, disregarding all else. Not that it
can be forgiven or excused. Ethically speaking, the worst is not only having had
the information hidden from the subjects of these experiments, but in some
cases that they were lied to in order to insure their participation as part of
an experiment to benefit or cure others. In addition, the culprits didn't even consider
who would be infected by the subjects after they were contaminated ...It's really overwhelmingly evil. There was an
awareness of the lack of ethics.
As expected, the issue of the
abominable experiments carried out in Guatemala by the United States and the
Pan American Sanitary Bureau between 1946 and 1948, and for which President
Obama asked for forgiveness, speaks to the field of ethics; namely, right and
wrong actions.
FROM NOW ON, in my opinion,
the central point of the entire affair should not be the medical aspects. The
lack of morals and ethics of the direct participants are already clear to
everyone, and verified by documentation. It is assumed, but there is still a reasonable
doubt, as to whether this is something of the past, if this type of exploitation
has been going on all along, or if the patients involved that did give their
consent were provided all the background information necessary for allowing a
more conscious decision about the risks. Nor can we flatly reject research on human
beings before deciding whether something of substance or a substantial finding
has the potential to be beneficial.
THE TYPE OF COMPENSATION provided
by the United States should not be an easy price to bear. Surely there are no
files, nor can anyone know, for example, what happened to the children who were
carried by the people who were infected. Therefore, the government of Guatemala
must proceed with the goal of obtaining a benefit for Guatemalans living today,
and the theme is simple: negotiate with Washington, where there now seems to be
a political will to do something - something for those who reside in the United
States. It’s a negotiation based on how to achieve tangible relief - an action through
which you can begin talking of forgiving and forgetting, or forgetting and
forgiving. The door is open. It’s a matter of crossing the threshold.
