Words Inadequate to
Describe U.S. Bio-Crime In Guatemala
"Although
the facts of the case arose 64 years ago, the dignity of the Guatemalan people
has been stained and their honor trampled upon. This is not likely to be remedied,
despite all of the joint committees for uncovering what happened."
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.
There seems to be no proper
epithet to describe the experiments that the United States, between 1946 and 1948,
performed on 1,500 Guatemalans, who were infected with injections of syphilis
and gonorrhea without their consent.
Perhaps the adjective "crime
against humanity," utilized by President Alvaro Colom when asked for his
opinion on the subject, barely touches on the seriousness, albeit still
imprecisely, of such aberrant facts as the U.S. revealed yesterday
The results of a study on
what had been done by her compatriots came to light this year, when Professor
Susan Reverby of Wellesley College uncovered archival documents that commented
on the experiment conducted by the once embattled U.S. doctor of public health,
John Cutler.
[Editor's Note: According to
the documents prepared by Dr. Cutler and revealed by Professor Reverby, prisoners,
soldiers and inmates in mental asylums in Guatemala were intentionally infected,
sometimes by using prostitutes provided by the scientists, sometimes by pouring
the germs onto skin abrasions caused by the researchers.]
The aim of the study in
Guatemala, which was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the
Pan American Sanitary Office, the precursor of the Pan American Health
Organization, was to investigate new ways of preventing sexually-transmitted
diseases.
The vulnerable subjects of
the experiments (prostitutes, soldiers, prisoners and the mentally ill), who
have now been shown to have been treated like "laboratory mice," were
also encouraged to spread the disease to others, and some who contracted
syphilis weren't treated.
The findings abound in
horrifying details that U.S. officials have sought to explain while offering
their apologies to the Government of Guatemala.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton said that it was something "unethical" and expressed
indignation about the "reprehensible" research, deplored "these
abominable practices" and said that "the behavior shown during the
study does not represent American values and our commitment to human dignity."
And President Barack Obama, by
telephone, told President Colom of his "deep regret for the experiments."
Obama's gave the "unwavering commitment" of his country to ensure
that current medical studies meet all international legal and ethical standards.
Now the qualifications and
apologies abound, and although the facts of the case arose 64 years ago, the
dignity of the Guatemalan people has been stained and their honor trampled upon.
This is not likely to be remedied, despite all of the joint committees for
uncovering what happened.
Although pondering the
possibility of compensation is certainly fitting, it would be far more
desirable that acts of this nature never occur again.
