DATE: Wednesday, May 14, 1997               TAG: 9705140692

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A4   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Focus 

SOURCE: BY JIM YARDLEY

        COX NEWS SERVICE

                                            LENGTH:   38 lines

THEY WERE GUINEA PIGS

this date.] ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC

THE TUSKEGEE SYPHILIS STUDY

What it was: A study of 623 African-American men, about 400 of

whom had syphilis. The rest were uninfected men who served as

controls for comparison. The study began in 1932 and lasted 40

years.

Its purpose: To learn what untreated syphilis would do to a black

man.

How it worked: The men were given placebos, but weren't told.

They never received any treatment for the disease, even when the use

of penicillin became routine in the 1940s. When participants died,

researchers offered their families free burials in exchange for the

right to do autopsies.

How it ended: The study was stopped in 1972 after being exposed

in the media. A lawsuit was settled for $7 million in 1974. The men

and their relatives, 6,000 people in all, also were promised free

health care for life.

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