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CT-000010 · Filed by @archivedesk · Oct 12, 2026 · updated Oct 12, 2026

The U.S. Public Health Service syphilis study at Tuskegee

The member’s thesis

For four decades the U.S. Public Health Service observed hundreds of Black men with syphilis in Macon County, Alabama, without treating them, even after penicillin became the standard cure; a 1972 Associated Press report exposed the study, and a federal advisory panel, a class-action settlement and a 1997 presidential apology confirmed it.

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Reports from three different networks hide this at once until it is reviewed. For legal matters use the notice form.

  1. DOCUMENTED Source: cdc.gov (opens the source in a new tab)

    Public Health Service begins the Tuskegee study

    The U.S. Public Health Service, working with the Tuskegee Institute, began a study of untreated syphilis in Black men in Macon County, Alabama, with about 600 men enrolled (roughly 400 with syphilis and 200 controls).

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    Reports from three different networks hide this at once until it is reviewed. For legal matters use the notice form.

  2. DOCUMENTED Source: cdc.gov (opens the source in a new tab)

    Penicillin becomes the standard treatment but is not offered to participants

    By 1943 penicillin was the treatment of choice for syphilis and was becoming widely available, but the men in the study were not offered treatment.

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    Reports from three different networks hide this at once until it is reviewed. For legal matters use the notice form.

  3. DOCUMENTED Source: darkwing.uoregon.edu (opens the source in a new tab)

    Associated Press reports the study to the public

    A news story by reporter Jean Heller, datelined Washington, July 25, 1972, reported that the Public Health Service had run a 40-year study in which men with syphilis went without treatment. The New York Times printed it on July 26, 1972. In the story, current health officials said they had serious doubts about the morality of the study, and the HEW Assistant Secretary for Health and Scientific Affairs said he was making an immediate investigation.

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    Reports from three different networks hide this at once until it is reviewed. For legal matters use the notice form.

  4. DOCUMENTED Source: biotech.law.lsu.edu (opens the source in a new tab)

    HEW charters the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Ad Hoc Advisory Panel

    The HEW Assistant Secretary for Health and Scientific Affairs signed the charter of an ad hoc advisory panel. The panel was asked to judge the study and to recommend whether it should be continued, and if not, how it should be ended.

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    Reports from three different networks hide this at once until it is reviewed. For legal matters use the notice form.

  5. DOCUMENTED Source: biotech.law.lsu.edu (opens the source in a new tab)

    Advisory panel recommends ending the study immediately

    In its initial recommendation, the panel advised that the study be terminated immediately and that participants receive care for any disabilities resulting from their participation.

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    Reports from three different networks hide this at once until it is reviewed. For legal matters use the notice form.

  6. DOCUMENTED Source: cdc.gov (opens the source in a new tab)

    Federal health officials announce the end of the study

    About a month after the panel's October 1972 advice, the HEW Assistant Secretary for Health and Scientific Affairs announced the end of the study.

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    Reports from three different networks hide this at once until it is reviewed. For legal matters use the notice form.

  7. DOCUMENTED Source: cdc.gov (opens the source in a new tab)

    Class-action lawsuit filed for the participants and their families

    A class-action lawsuit was filed in 1973 on behalf of the study participants and their families.

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    Reports from three different networks hide this at once until it is reviewed. For legal matters use the notice form.

  8. DOCUMENTED Source: biotech.law.lsu.edu (opens the source in a new tab)

    Advisory panel's final report finds the study ethically unjustified

    The panel sent its final report to the HEW Assistant Secretary for Health. It concluded that the study was ethically unjustified from its start in 1932, and that penicillin should have been made available to participants once it became generally available.

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    Reports from three different networks hide this at once until it is reviewed. For legal matters use the notice form.

  9. DOCUMENTED Source: cdc.gov (opens the source in a new tab)

    Lawsuit settled for $10 million

    The class action ended in a $10 million out-of-court settlement in 1974.

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    Reports from three different networks hide this at once until it is reviewed. For legal matters use the notice form.

  10. DOCUMENTED Source: clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov (opens the source in a new tab)

    President Clinton formally apologizes for the study

    At the White House, President Bill Clinton issued a formal apology on behalf of the United States government to the study's survivors and their families.

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    Reports from three different networks hide this at once until it is reviewed. For legal matters use the notice form.

End of the timeline. 10 events, as filed by @archivedesk.

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