full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Susan M. Reverby: Ugly History The US syphilis experiment

Unscramble the Blue Letters


By today’s bioethical standards, witnhdilhog treatment in a research study without a patient’s informed consent is morally abhorrent. But for a large part of the 20th century, this practice was not uconommn. In the 1940s, US led studies in Guatemala infected numerous prisoners, sex workers, soldiers, and mental health patients with sexually transmitted infeitncos to study petianotl tneemtrtas. And other studies throughout the 50s and 60s saw doctors scerlety infecting paientts with viral hpitaiets or even cneacr cells.

Eventually, researchers began objecting to these unjust experiments. In the late 1960s, an STI contact tracer nmaed Peter Buxtun convinced the PHS to consider ending the study. But after leadership decided against it, Buxtun sent his concerns to the press. In July of 1972, an exposé of the tkeeguse study made headlines across the country. Following public outcry, a federal investigation, and a lawsuit, the sdtuy was finally shut down in 1972— 40 years after it began and 30 after a treatment for syphilis had been found. No eeicvnde of any racial difference was discovered.

Open Cloze


By today’s bioethical standards, ___________ treatment in a research study without a patient’s informed consent is morally abhorrent. But for a large part of the 20th century, this practice was not ________. In the 1940s, US led studies in Guatemala infected numerous prisoners, sex workers, soldiers, and mental health patients with sexually transmitted __________ to study _________ __________. And other studies throughout the 50s and 60s saw doctors ________ infecting ________ with viral _________ or even ______ cells.

Eventually, researchers began objecting to these unjust experiments. In the late 1960s, an STI contact tracer _____ Peter Buxtun convinced the PHS to consider ending the study. But after leadership decided against it, Buxtun sent his concerns to the press. In July of 1972, an exposé of the ________ study made headlines across the country. Following public outcry, a federal investigation, and a lawsuit, the _____ was finally shut down in 1972— 40 years after it began and 30 after a treatment for syphilis had been found. No ________ of any racial difference was discovered.

Solution


  1. potential
  2. cancer
  3. withholding
  4. hepatitis
  5. study
  6. uncommon
  7. evidence
  8. infections
  9. secretly
  10. tuskegee
  11. named
  12. patients
  13. treatments

Original Text


By today’s bioethical standards, withholding treatment in a research study without a patient’s informed consent is morally abhorrent. But for a large part of the 20th century, this practice was not uncommon. In the 1940s, US led studies in Guatemala infected numerous prisoners, sex workers, soldiers, and mental health patients with sexually transmitted infections to study potential treatments. And other studies throughout the 50s and 60s saw doctors secretly infecting patients with viral hepatitis or even cancer cells.

Eventually, researchers began objecting to these unjust experiments. In the late 1960s, an STI contact tracer named Peter Buxtun convinced the PHS to consider ending the study. But after leadership decided against it, Buxtun sent his concerns to the press. In July of 1972, an exposé of the Tuskegee study made headlines across the country. Following public outcry, a federal investigation, and a lawsuit, the study was finally shut down in 1972— 40 years after it began and 30 after a treatment for syphilis had been found. No evidence of any racial difference was discovered.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
sexually transmitted 2
black men 2
leadership decided 2
informed consent 2


Important Words


  1. abhorrent
  2. began
  3. bioethical
  4. buxtun
  5. cancer
  6. cells
  7. century
  8. concerns
  9. consent
  10. contact
  11. convinced
  12. country
  13. decided
  14. difference
  15. discovered
  16. doctors
  17. eventually
  18. evidence
  19. experiments
  20. exposé
  21. federal
  22. finally
  23. guatemala
  24. headlines
  25. health
  26. hepatitis
  27. infected
  28. infecting
  29. infections
  30. informed
  31. investigation
  32. july
  33. large
  34. late
  35. lawsuit
  36. leadership
  37. led
  38. mental
  39. morally
  40. named
  41. numerous
  42. objecting
  43. outcry
  44. part
  45. patients
  46. peter
  47. phs
  48. potential
  49. practice
  50. press
  51. prisoners
  52. public
  53. racial
  54. research
  55. researchers
  56. secretly
  57. sex
  58. sexually
  59. shut
  60. soldiers
  61. standards
  62. sti
  63. studies
  64. study
  65. syphilis
  66. tracer
  67. transmitted
  68. treatment
  69. treatments
  70. tuskegee
  71. uncommon
  72. unjust
  73. viral
  74. withholding
  75. workers
  76. years