Paper on Unveiling Ethical Shadows: A Reflection on the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment in 'Miss Evers's Boys'

Write what you get from the movie.

Miss Evers’s Boys is a movie that is grounded on a real-life story regarding the Tuskegee test (syphilis). From the year 1932 to 1972, the United States of America's government runs medical research on impoverished black men in Macon, Alabama (Butts, 2007). The study research comprised 412 men selected containing bad blood. The government pretended to be giving treatment to these patients but instead used them to perform the analysis. The activities performed by the government negatively impacted the numbers of those men, as, in about 40 years, about 127 only were left. The movie storyline is illustrated by a black nurse called Miss Evers, and a nurse sent to offer assistance to Dr. Douglas and Dr. Brodus in conducting the Tuskegee experiment (Butts, 2007). She was very excited to provide help for the patients, but as the years moved from 10 years to 40 years, many patients died. The ‘boys’ in the movie are close friends and musicians who also possess bad blood. In the early stages of the experiment, the ‘boys’ were thrilled as they received free treatment. At last, two of the ‘boys’ survived, one was very close to Evers and found assistance in terms of a cure from the army during World War Two while the other, which was good at dancing, survived but lost his dancing skills (Butts, 2007). All the time, Miss Evers struggles to offer the best treatment to his “boys,” but the government does not provide the real cure (White, 2019).

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How did the movie influence your thoughts about research?

Miss Evers’s movie points out the need for scientific integrity and forms of teaching to aggregate human beings' studies. In a period of unidentified outcomes of biological attacks, Miss Evers’s Boys acts as an excellent example of why medical research and experiments should be carried out morally (Kang, 2011). The study's goal in the movie portray one of the famous unethical examples of human testing and experiments in the broad history of America. Watching the film has changed my thoughts about medical research as it clearly illustrates a true story on the dark side history of the world. It is a duty of every medical doctor in the world to facilitate the best treatment for patients. However, it is very remorseful and wrong for the American team of doctors to start experiments on people who suffer from disorders without knowing the whole process, especially running unethical and criminal investigations (Kang, 2011). I thought that American doctors could fulfill their duty of treating the patients while conducting their research but ended up doing the opposite.

Watching the movie also changed my thoughts about the study since the government is the leading player that influenced the research at a very high percentage. This is obvious because they are the key players that funded the project for over 40 years (Kang, 2011). The government failed by showing the idea that syphilis was a disease that affected black people only. The experiment had an objective towards the black sign of promotion of racism. In my opinion, Miss Evers was not a deceiver since she hoped that her friends could easily remain happy every day and enjoy anything that they wanted to perform. She did not want to become a disappointment in the lives of her friends.

Do you believe the outcome of the research study justified the study?

The outcome of the research study did not, in any way, justify the review of the research. After watching the movie, it is evident that the study contained shreds of evidence of bioethical issues, questions relating to the right to life and health, and lack of social responsibilities (White, 2019). The infected men in the movie were provided with fake treatments, which eventually led to the loss of lives that could have been prevented or avoided. Many doctors such as Eunice, Davis, and Brutus helped the government lie to patients about their treatment by compromising their job professionally (White, 2019). Tuskegee Hospital, a facility used to conduct the research, strongly failed to reveal patients' primary purpose on the primary purpose of the study. It is deplorable that the infected patients were pinned on the list and ill-promised of treatment.

Any other comments or questions you had about the movie?

I like the movie's overall cast since it is based on a true story and reflects the dark side of history. The movie storyline depicts content that can open the eyes of any viewer. The point where movie illustrates the cure thing about the government's ill-treatment of patients by using them to conduct research and tests; hence it induces an intense and strong emotion. Nevertheless, the movie cannot be recommended to children since they will not understand various terrible things that build up medical research on the human body. It would very vital if the movie was dedicated to individuals who study medicine in colleges and universities worldwide. Additionally, why was it possible for the directors to allow a view of many people dying? The scenes can scare viewers to fear medical researchers.

References

Butts, H. M. (2007). Miss Evers' Boys. Journal of the National Medical Association, 99(2), 175.

Kang, N. (2011). Examining Tuskegee: The Infamous Syphilis Study and Its Legacy.

White, R. M. (2019). Driving Miss Evers’ Boys to the Historical Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis. Journal of the National Medical Association, 111(4), 371-382.