Monday 24 June 2013 | By: Amandine Ronny Montegerai

US Infects Guatemalans With STDs


In the 1940's, with penicillin as an established cure for syphilis, the US decided to test out its effectiveness on Guatemalan citizens.

To do this, they used infected prostitutes and let them loose on unknowing prison inmates, insane asylum patients and soldiers. When spreading the disease through prostitution didn't work as well as they'd hoped, they instead went for the inoculation route.

Researchers poured syphilis bacteria onto mens' penises and on their forearms and faces. In some cases, they even inoculated the men through spinal punctures.

After all the infections were transmitted, researchers then gave most of the subjects treatment, although as many as 1/3 of them could have been left untreated, even if that was the intention of the study in the first place.

On October 1, 2010, Hilary Clinton apologized for the events and new research has gone on to see if anyone affected is still alive and afflicted with syphilis. Since many subjects never got penicillin, its possible and likely that someone spread it to f*ture generations.