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> Clinton to apologize for Tuskegee syphilis experiment
> April 8, 1997
> Web posted at: 11:45 p.m. EDT (0345 GMT)
>
> WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Clinton will offer a formal apology for the
> notorious "Tuskegee experiment," in which black men suffering from
syphilis
> were left untreated for years so the government could study the disease,
the
> White House said Tuesday.
>
> The announcement came as four survivors of the experiment met at a church
in
> Notasulga, Alabama, and held a news conference to demand a meeting with
> Clinton and an apology from the government. There are eight survivors in
all,
> the youngest of whom is 87.
>
> The White House did not say whether that affected the president's
decision,
> but a spokeswoman said Clinton would issue the apology soon.
>
> 'A blight on our record'
> "The president feels it's a blight on our record and it should be
rectified,"
> said White House spokeswoman Mary Ellen Glynn.
>
>
> More than 600 African-American men were part of the secret syphilis study
> conducted in Tuskegee, Alabama, between 1932 and 1972.
>
> Nearly 400 had syphilis. Although they thought they were being treated for
> the sexually transmitted disease, they were getting only placebos. Doctors
> withheld penicillin, the standard treatment since 1947, so they could
study
> the progress of the disease.
>
> The study, made public in 1972, was conducted by the U.S. Public Health
> Service, which is now part of the Department of Health and Human Services.
>
> 'Used as human guinea pigs'
> "In 1932, these men were taken advantage of by being used as human guinea
> pigs," said their lawyer, Fred Gray. "Their lives were placed in jeopardy
...
> without their knowledge or consent."
>
>
> Gray also criticized a recent HBO film, "Miss Evers' Boys," for using
> fictional characters in its depiction of the Tuskegee experiment.
>
> He complained that the film portrayed the study's victims as racial
> stereotypes, and said the movie appeared to impart some blame for the grim
> experiment on black health-care professionals, when the full blame should
> rest on the government.
>
> Kip Konwiser, producer of the HBO film, defended the historical accuracy
of
> "Miss Evers' Boys" and rejected any suggestion the characters were
> stereotypes.
>
> "This is one heck of a historically accurate film and it still managed to
be
> entertaining," Konwiser said.
>
> The Associated Press contributed to this report.
>
>
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