'Medical Apartheid' Tracks History of Abuses
Harriet Washington Reads from the Book.
An 1835 flyer announces the appearance of Joice Heth, the purported 161-year-old "mammy" of President George Washington. Hethwas regularly examined by physicians and laypersons alike. Somers Historical Society and Museum hide caption
An 1835 flyer announces the appearance of Joice Heth, the purported 161-year-old "mammy" of President George Washington. Hethwas regularly examined by physicians and laypersons alike.
Somers Historical Society and Museum
In Tuskegee, Ala., a U.S. Public Health Service study subject receives an injection from a PHS physician. The men underwent procedures that maintained the illusion that they were undergoing treatment for syphilis. National Archives and Records Administration hide caption
In Tuskegee, Ala., a U.S. Public Health Service study subject receives an injection from a PHS physician. The men underwent procedures that maintained the illusion that they were undergoing treatment for syphilis.
National Archives and Records AdministrationThe medical exploitation of African Americans over centuries has caused many black patients to mistrust the medical industry. Author Harriet Washington discusses the history and impact of medical abuse with Farai Chideya.
Washington is a bioethicist and author of Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans From Colonial Times to the Present.
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