Effects of untreated syphilis in the negro male, 1932 to 1972: A closure comes to the Tuskegee study, 2004

Abstract

When Ernest Hendon died in January 2004 at the age of 96, a closure finally came to the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis (TSUS) of 1932 to 1972. Mr. Hendon, who was the last survivor of the TSUS, made the above remark shortly before his death, describing why he participated in a research project that nowadays—just a few decades later—is not even conceivable. Mr. Hendon’s recent death occasions a retelling of this most infamous chapter in the history of American medicine. Awareness of TSUS is important because the “Tuskegee effect” still impedes African-American participation in medical research.