PUH 305 Application Assignment-Tuskegee & Trust
- In the documentary, the doctors and nurses involved in the Tuskegee Study claimed that their
intentions were good in designing and implementing the study.
a. Do intentions matter when you are implementing health programs or interventions in the
community? Why or why not? (2-3 sentences)
b. The doctors also insisted that the study was not racist. Briefly summarize their reasoning. (2-
3 sentences)
c. Do you think the study was inherently racist at the time, or do you think it is only considered
racist in hindsight, considering how our views of racism have evolved since the study ended?
Explain your answer. (2-3 sentences) - Eunice Rivers was the Black nurse who was central to the administration of the study.
a. The documentary described several ways that Nurse Rivers worked to gain the trust of the
study participants. Briefly describe some of these ways she did this. (2-3 sentences)
b. Nurse Rivers has been criticized for betraying her “own” (fellow Black people) through her
involvement in the study. Has the fact that Nurse Rivers was Black complicated the degree to
which trust between the U.S. Public Health Service/CDC and the Black community was harmed?
Explain your answer. (3-5 sentences) - In 1973, the Tuskegee Health Benefit Program was established to pay for all necessary medical care
for participants until their deaths and was extended to cover their wives, widows, and children in 1975.
Also in 1973, a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of participants which was settled out of court for
$10 million in 1974. Survivors received $32,500 each. The United States government formally
apologized for the Tuskegee Experiment in 1997.
a. Were these measures sufficient compensation for what participants had endured during the
experiment? Why or why not? (3-5 sentences)
b. Did these measures help to repair the broken trust between those impacted by the
experiment and the U.S. government, and to what extent? (2-3 sentences)
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