30/08/2011 10:59
US syphilis study killed 83 in Guatemala
At least 83 Guatemalans are thought to have died not long after being deliberately infected with syphilis and gonorrhoea in the 1940s, a presidential commission in Washington has heard, BBC reported.
US government scientists infected hundreds of Guatemalan prisoners, psychiatric patients and sex workers to study the effects of penicillin.
Guatemala's vice-president said an apology would be made to the people, as local doctors were also involved.
The head of the commission, Amy Gutmann, called the research a "shameful piece of medical history."
President Obama set up the commission when the research first came to light last year.
He also apologized to his Guatemalan counterpart, Alvaro Colom, saying the acts ran contrary to American values.