Event
Terre Haute prison experiments
Public Health Service experiments, 1943-44, that tried to infect prisoners with gonorrhea; 241 took part.
- Dates
- Sep 1943 – Jul 1944
Connections 3
involved
- John C. Cutler ran the work at the prison Primary record 1
- U.S. Public Health Service Primary record 1
located in
- Terre Haute, Indiana Primary record 1
Timeline 1 date
- Sep 1943 – Jul 1944 Terre Haute prison experiments
Proof 1 source
-
"Ethically Impossible": STD Research in Guatemala from 1946 to 1948, Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, Sep 2011.
Primary record
Work at Terre Haute began in September 1943 under Dr. Mahoney’s leadership in Staten Island, and his young associate, Dr. Cutler, at the prison.
With the exigency of war, and after a year and a half of intense effort, the scientific establishment represented at NRC directed Dr. Mahoney and PHS to continue the work.
At the conclusion of the experiments, participants received $100, a certificate of merit, and a letter of commendation to the parole board.
The investigators required that participants be at least 21 years old and provide “[a]ssurance that the volunteer possessed a thorough understanding of the purpose underlying the study and the possible risks involved.”
Dr. Cutler, age 28, was relatively new to PHS, having joined in 1942
In total, 241 prisoners participated in the experiments, which ended in 1944.
They also provided a scientific impetus for the experiments in Guatemala
Page history 1 change
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