American Scandal

In early 1930s America, segregation is the law of the land, and syphilis remains a grave public health concern. A handful of white government doctors aims to treat African Americans in a rural Alabama county where infection rates are especially high. But several officials conspire to alter the program’s goals, launching a decades-long program that will stain medical history.

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study is underway, with hundreds of African-American men unknowingly serving as human guinea pigs. Though it's initially scheduled to last only a few months, the doctors in charge of the experiment land on a nefarious scheme to perpetuate the study indefinitely.

In the 1960s, as cultural attitudes shift and more doctors in the U.S. learn of the study, objections are raised on moral and political grounds. When the government refuses to end the experiment, a whistleblower goes public, and the test subjects turn to a civil rights lawyer for justice.

After 40 years, the Tuskegee Study has been exposed, condemned, and ended. But for the survivors and African-American community at large, this is not the end of the story. A fight begins to ensure the deceived test subjects are properly compensated, and formally apologized to, by the United States government.

Black babies in the United States are twice as likely as white babies to die before their first birthday. It’s an alarming statistic that further highlights the wide disparities in healthcare that exist between black and white Americans. And while there is no direct connection to the Tuskegee Study there are parallels. We’ll talk with Priska Neely, reporter for Southern California Public Radio, who has dived deep into the issue of black infant mortality, its causes and why it has persisted for decades.