Obama Apologises For Syphilis Experiments

Syphilis can cause blindness and insanity

Initially, the researchers infected female commercial sex workers with gonorrhea or syphilis, and then allowed them to have unprotected sex with soldiers or prison inmates.

"When few of these men became infected, the research approach changed to direct inoculation of soldiers, prisoners and mental hospital patients," background documents on the study show.

The research was led by John Cutler, a US public health doctor, who was involved in the highly-controversial Tuskegee experiment from 1932 to 1972.A total of some 1,500 people took part in the study, which lay hidden for decades.

"The studies went on until 1948 and the records suggest that, despite intentions, not everyone was probably cured," Reverby said in a statement.

In that study scientists tracked 600 black men in Alabama who had late-stage syphilis but who did not know it, and were never given remedial treatment.

Strange that the victims of this were from particular ethnic groups (presumably also the sex workers). Or perhaps not so strange. I wonder how many Iraqis have been subjected to similar experiments by the CIA or their cohorts.In Afghanistan, the preference seems to have been for the more overt practice of killing people and mutilating them.