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Human experiments: First, do harm

Nature volume 482, pages 148–152 (2012)Cite this article

Subjects

In the 1940s, US doctors deliberately infected thousands of Guatemalans with venereal diseases. The wound is still raw.

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References

  1. Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues Ethically impossible: STD Research in Guatemala from 1946 to 1948 (2011).

  2. Reverby, S. M. J. Policy Hist. 23, 6–28 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Comisión Presidencial para el Esclarecimiento de los Experimentos Practicados con Humanos en Guatemala, durante el periodo 1946 a 1948 Consentir el Daño (2011).

  4. Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues Research Across Borders (2011).

  5. Francis, T. Jr, Salk, J. E., Pearson, H. E. & Brown, P. N. J. Clin. Invest. 24, 536–546 (1945).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Matthew Walter is a freelance writer in New York. Additional reporting provided by Richard Monastersky.,

    Matthew Walter

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  1. Matthew Walter
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Additional information

See Editorial p.132

Related links

Related links

Related links in Nature Research

US bioethics panel urges stronger protections for human subjects 2011-Dec-15

A shocking discovery 2010-Oct-04

Blogpost: US seeks to dismiss lawsuit over unethical VD research in Guatemala

Blogpost: Guatemala experiments 'heinous', commission tells Obama

Related external links

Bioethics Commission report (PDF)

Guatemalan government report (PDF in Spanish)

Records of the Guatemalan experiments

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Walter, M. Human experiments: First, do harm. Nature 482, 148–152 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/482148a

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