Tuskegee Study Blocks Subjects from WWII Syphilis Treatment Programs

When WWII draft screening identifies syphilis in some Tuskegee study subjects who might receive treatment through the military, study director Dr. Raymond Vonderlehr contacts the Macon County draft board to have subjects' names removed from treatment rolls. Study participants are actively prevented from receiving treatment available through wartime public health programs. This requires deliberate intervention to maintain untreated controls as penicillin becomes available. The action demonstrates that researchers understand they are denying effective treatment.