Final answer:
The Tuskegee Experiment was a study exposed in 1972 that involved withholding syphilis treatment from 600 African American men to observe the disease's progression. The unethical practices led to long-lasting mistrust among African Americans towards the medical field and paved the way for the creation of the National Research Act of 1974.
Step-by-step explanation:
The information about the Tuskegee Experiment, where African American men were allowed to go untreated for syphilis, was exposed due to the Associated Press reporting on the story in 1972. Initiated by the U.S. Public Health Service in 1932 in Macon County, Alabama, 600 African American men, including 399 with syphilis, were deceptively told they were being treated for "bad blood." The study's goal was to observe the progression of untreated syphilis in Black men.
It was not until the distribution of penicillin in the 1940s, which was an effective cure for syphilis, that the egregious nature of the study became evident. Even with this treatment available, participants were not offered penicillin and were not informed of their actual medical condition. The ethics of the study were drastically compromised, and the men and their families were significantly harmed.
This unethical research contributed to a legacy of distrust within African American communities towards the medical profession and highlighted the need for stringent ethical guidelines in research involving human subjects. The public outrage following the exposure of the experiment led to the enactment of the National Research Act in 1974.