Peter Buxtun
Peter Buxtun (sometimes referred to as Peter Buxton) is a former employee of the United States Public Health Service who became known as the whistleblower responsible for ending the Tuskegee syphilis experiment.
Buxtun, then a 27-year-old social worker and epidemiologist in San Francisco,[1] was hired by the Public Health Service in December 1965[2] to interview patients with sexually transmitted diseases; in the course of his duties, he learned of the Tuskegee Experiment from co-workers. He later said—"I didn't want to believe it. This was the Public Health Service. We didn't do things like that."[1] In November 1966, he filed an official protest on ethical grounds with the Service's Division of Venereal Diseases; this was rejected on the grounds that the Experiment was not yet complete. He filed another protest in November 1968; again, his concerns were ruled irrelevant.[3]
In 1972, Buxtun leaked information on the Tuskegee Experiment to Jean Heller of the Washington Star. Heller's story exposing the Experiment was published on July 25, 1972; It became front-page news in the New York Times the following day. Senator Edward Kennedy called Congressional hearings, at which Buxtun and HEW officials testified and the Experiment was terminated shortly thereafter.[4] Buxtun subsequently testified at the ensuing Congressional hearing.
In May 1999, Buxtun attended the launch of a memorial center and public exhibit to the experiment in Tuskegee.[5]
[edit] Further reading
- Reverby, Susan (October 2009). Examining Tuskegee: The Infamous Syphilis Study and Its Legacy. The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0807833100.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Heller, Jean (July 20, 1997). "The legacy of Tuskegee". St Petersburg Times: p. 1D.
- ^ Rubin, Allen; Babbie, Earl R. (2005). Research Methods for Social Work. Thomson Wadsworth. p. 70. ISBN 9780534621094. http://books.google.com/?id=eAdbEn-yZbcC&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=%22peter+buxtun%22+syphilis.
- ^ Thomas, Stephen B., PhD; Quinn, Sandra Crouse, MEd (November 1991). "The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, 1932 to 1972: Implications for HIV Education and AIDS Risk Education Programs in the Black Community". American Journal of Public Health (American Public Health Association) 81 (11): 1498–1505. doi:10.2105/AJPH.81.11.1498. ISSN 1541-0448. PMC 1405662. PMID 1951814. http://minority-health.pitt.edu/archive/00000393/01/The_Tuskegee_Syphilis_Study_1932_to.pdf. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
- ^ Stryker, Jeff (13 April 1997). "Tuskegee's long arm still touches a nerve". New York Times: p. 4.
- ^ "Center launched as training tool". Associated Press. May 17, 1999.
