While all recent media attention has been focused solely on the disaster in Japan and the continuous turbulence in the Middle East, a little known story has manifested this week that reveals that a group of Guatemalan’s are suing the U.S. for infecting them with syphilis during the 1940s. The U.S. had covered up an unethical experiment carried out over 60 years ago that left approximately 696 innocent Guatemalans exposed to the sexually transmitted disease.
The study, carried out by U.S. health service physician John Cutler, was designed to identify the uses of penicillin, a new antibiotic at the time, and see whether it would prevent syphilis infection as opposed to merely curing it. The hidden experiments were unveiled last October by Wellesley College professor Susan Reverby who stumbled across the buried files whilst conducting research on a different case. The revelation led the Obama administration to release apologetic statements to the Guatemalan government. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton stated that the experiments were “clearly unethical” and that America “deeply regretted” the situation and were “outraged”.
During the scientific study conducted between 1946 and 1948 in Guatemala, prisoners, mental asylum patients, soldiers and orphanage children were infected by prostitutes who were asked by U.S. officials to purposely infect these ‘guinea pigs’ with the sexually transmitted disease syphilis. The individuals infected had not given their permission to take part in such tests and were not told of the risks. The victims did not receive sufficient follow-up tests and Reverby stated that “not everyone received what was even then considered adequate treatment”.
As of this week, attorneys in Guatemala are filing for compensation for the victims and their families. They have sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder stating that they wish to proceed with compensation claims. Piper Hendricks, one of the attorneys preparing the case, stated, “Right now, what we have done is send a letter to Attorney General Holder asking for a response from the U.S. government”. She continued, “If there is no response by Friday we will be filing the complaint on Monday”.
When details of the horrendous study were discovered, the U.S. government were quick in condemning such experiments. But while their denouncements were being aired publicly, behind closed doors the Obama administration has been secretly plotting a strategy that will allow America to avoid paying out compensation to the Guatemalans. The lawsuit involves only 7 plaintiffs, a mere 1% of the overall infected sufferers.
This latest chapter has once again raised a serious question mark over U.S. foreign policy. On hearing that the Guatemalans were filing for compensation, top Italian I.E.C.P. (International Educational Commission for Peace) president, Massimo De Santi, stated that he backed the lawsuit and that the U.S. is a “key violator of human rights”. As well as alluding to the Guatemalan episode he also highlighted other historic events where America have led the way in breaking numerous globally recognised human rights; namely the atomic bomb dropped on Japan in 1945 and various other unethical medical studies conducted in Latin America.
Of course, this is not the first time that the U.S. has dabbled in blatant duplicity. Aside from hiding the Guatemalan experiment, when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, U.S. ‘embedded’ journalists denied the effects of radiation which directly caused the deaths of 140,000 innocent Japanese civilians. Julian Assange’s Wikileaks has unearthed numerous other deceptions, including various war crimes being authorised and knowingly carried out by senior U.S. officials. And let us not forget Watergate, the now infamous story whereby Republican President Richard Nixon covered up his own administrations illegal activity in order to remain in power.
High scale duplicity has always been a part of U.S. governmental culture. As I write this the Obama administration’s legal advisors are cooking up a plan that will possibly, and more than likely, see the U.S. avoid paying compensation to innocent victims who unknowingly participated in an unethical study, leaving them with incessant health difficulties for their remaining decades. Parallel to that, the administration are also holding Private Bradley Manning, the brave soldier responsible for the recent Wikileaks documents, until they can fabricate a law in which to prosecute him. When will it end? When will the American public rise up and send a stern message reflecting their disgruntled dissatisfaction? Until they do, governments shall go on acting corruptly, and worse still, illegally.
SOURCES/LINKS:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/170310.html
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2010/10/04/u-s-soothes-syphilis-sufferers-with-a-sorry/
Join the Conversation