HF01-12 UNITED STATES HEALTH DEPARTMENT IMMORAL EXPERIMENTS IN 1940s GUATEMALA: JOHN CUTLER'S TRAINING GROUND FOR UNETHICAL STUDIES ON SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS

Abstract

You have accessJournal of UrologyHistory of Urology Forum I (HF01)1 Sep 2021HF01-12 UNITED STATES HEALTH DEPARTMENT IMMORAL EXPERIMENTS IN 1940s GUATEMALA: JOHN CUTLER'S TRAINING GROUND FOR UNETHICAL STUDIES ON SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS Jane Kurtzman, Ruth Blum, and Steven Brandes Jane KurtzmanJane Kurtzman More articles by this author , Ruth BlumRuth Blum More articles by this author , and Steven BrandesSteven Brandes More articles by this author View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1097/JU.0000000000001992.12AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookLinked InTwitterEmail Abstract INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: The Black Lives Matter movement and the disproportionate morbidity and mortality of the Covid pandemic on Black and Brown people in the US, has highlighted glaring inequities in US health care. The Tuskegee syphilis study is the most infamous of unethical biomedical experiments. The US Public Health Service (PHS) also committed an equally depraved experiment in 1940s Guatemala. METHODS: Review of historical documents from the New York City Municipal Archives, the University of Pittsburgh Archive Service Center, the Guatemalan government report “Consentie el Dano” and the US Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues Report. RESULTS: John Cutler, at 28 joined the US PHS in 1942, after graduating from Western Reserve University Medical School. In 1943, at the Venereal Disease Research Lab, studying sexually transmitted infections (STIs), he met Dr. Juan Funes. He suggested moving the studies to Guatemala, as prostitution was legal. From 1943-1944, Cutler conducted gonorrhea (GC) experiments on 241 Terre Haute, Indiana Penitentiary prisoners, all paid and consented. The study closed for inconsistent infection rates. Initial experiments in Guatemala in 1946, assessed false positive rate of syphilis testing. 1384 Guatemalan children underwent blood draws and lumbar punctures without Guardian or parental consent. 51 leprosy patients also had testing without consent. From 1946 to 1948, 1308 sex workers, prisoners, soldiers, and mental hospital patients were intentionally infected with either syphilis, gonorrhea or chancroid. Mean age - 20s (range, 10 -72). 678 received some treatment. Chancroid : 133 psychiatric patients and service men inoculated in arms and back, without consent. Syphilis: 688 sex workers, prisoners, psychiatric patients intentionally exposed to syphilis. GC: intentional exposure experiments in 487 Guatemalan army men. As in Terre Haute, STI infection rates inconsistent. 83 deaths during the experiments; no posts performed. Cutler leaves Guatemala in 1948; intentional exposure experiments continue till 1953. 1951-1954, Cutler leads the ongoing PHS experiments of untreated syphilis among Blacks in Tuskegee Alabama. These victims were already infected – not intentionally, as in Guatemala. 2010, US President Barack Obama apologizes to the Guatemalan people. CONCLUSIONS: Cutler was the lead on the two most unethical healthcare experiments in US history. The Guatemala STI experiments are particularly egregious, as none were consented and all actively infected. Source of Funding: NONE © 2021 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 206Issue Supplement 3September 2021Page: e232-e232 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 2021 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.MetricsAuthor Information Jane Kurtzman More articles by this author Ruth Blum More articles by this author Steven Brandes More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement Loading ...