US argues it is immune from STD experiment lawsuit

[Little Tich]

Source: CBS News / AP

(AP) WASHINGTON — The Obama administration argued Monday that Guatemalans unknowingly exposed to sexually transmitted diseases by U.S. researchers in the 1940s cannot sue the United States, no matter how shameful and unethical the studies were.

In its first response to a lawsuit filed on behalf of the experiment's subjects, the Justice Department late Monday said sovereign immunity protects federal health officials from litigation stemming from the study. The experiment conducted in the 1940s exposed Guatemalan prostitutes, prisoners, mental patients and soldiers with STDs to test the effects of penicillin. The studies were conducted without the test subjects' consent.

President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius all have apologized for the research, hidden for decades until a Wellesley College medical historian uncovered the records in 2009.

The Justice Department filing Monday said the studies were "a deeply troubling chapter in our nation's history."

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501706_162-57355657/us-argues-it-is-immune-from-std-experiment-lawsuit/

[peacebird]

1. Words fail me.......

[teddy51]

2. If it was "a deeply troubling chapter in our nation's history." Then stand up and face

the backlash of this. This country and Government are unbelievable. We F*cked up, got caught so pay the penalty.

[Yooperman]

3. I agree Teddy51.... The U.S. should compensate those still alive....

Shame on the U.S. Government AGAIN! One can only imagine the things that have happened that haven't become public.

[Fearless]

4. +1

[suffragette]

5. I agree with the plaintiff's attorneys on this

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501706_162-57355657/us-argues-it-is-immune-from-std-experiment-lawsuit/

Attorneys for the Guatemalans said the immunity assertion contradicts the apologies made by Obama and his advisers. They also said failure to accept responsibility for the human rights abuses violates the international prohibition against nonconsensual human medical experimentation that the United States and other nations renounced during the Nuremberg trials following World War II.

"We will continue to vigorously fight for the rights of the Guatemalans wronged in this matter to obtain a remedy for the harms done by U.S. officials," plaintiffs' attorney Terrence Collingsworth said in a statement in response to the filing. "But we remain open to the United States deciding to do the right thing, consistent with long-established human rights law and basic morality."


There's a reason we took that stand at Nuremberg and it's just as valid now as it was then - basic human compassion and basic human rights.



edit spelling error

[Little Tich]

6. Guatemala syphilis experiment- Wikipedia

Source: Wikipedia (edit for clarity)

The syphilis experiments in Guatemala were United States-led human experiments conducted in Guatemala from 1946 to 1948, during the administration of President Truman and President Juan José Arévalo with the cooperation of some Guatemalan health ministries and officials.

Doctors infected soldiers, prostitutes, prisoners and mental patients with syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases, without the informed consent of the subjects, and treated most subjects with antibiotics. This resulted in at least 83 deaths.

In October 2010, the U.S. formally apologized to Guatemala for conducting these experiments.

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemala_syphilis_experiment