Results

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study
James M. DuBois
From 1932 through 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service enrolled African-American men in a non-therapeutic research study to observe the natural course of syphilis. Subjects were not told they had syphilis, nor were they treated for syphilis or any secondary problems. The study continued even after penicillin became the standard treatment for syphilis in the 1940’s and was not ended until 1972, when a public health official went to the press.

A Living Wage?
James M. DuBois
A researcher tries to determine the appropriate amount to pay participants in a study comparing psychotherapy and pharmaceutical treatments for bipolar disorder.

Do No Harm
Patricia Keith-Spiegel and Gerald P. Koocher
Researchers offer low-income parents several hundred dollars to enroll their infant children in research that has no potential benefits. The authors present this case as an example of poor research practices.

How Much is Enough?
Patricia Keith-Spiegel and Gerald P. Koocher
A researcher and study participants differ in opinion over what is a sufficient amount to pay prisoners for research participation.

Students as Research Subjects
William Timberlake
A researcher recruits students to participate in study to test an experimental treatment for depression. Several students who are randomly assigned to the control group voice complaints about their lack of treatment.