Extra History

Syphilis - The Killer Cure (92x2)

: 03, 2020

Ho boy this one is rough. Syphilis was not an untreatable disease but sometimes the cure could be worse. Malaria was used to burn out the disease from patients, but the patients this was tried on were often in the late stages of the disease, which left them paralyzed, mentally ill, and unable to consent to the experiment. Advancements in sexual health were made thanks to Ettie Rout, including widespread condom use in the army (hiding condoms as "barrel protectors"). And through the work of Sahachiiro and Paul Erlich, a magic bullet appears. But we also saw one of the world's most unethical studies, one that would radically change how we approach medical science forever: The Tuskegee Study or The Tuskegee Experiment.