Changes

The test subjects were already participating in a study and may not have felt the need to seek treatment elsewhere—believing they were already getting treatment from USPHS doctors. In the 1950s and 1960s, the USPHS voted to continue with the experiment. When Jean Heller broke the story for the Associated Press on July 25, 1972, the public became aware of this study. Even when the story broke, USPHS doctors were still collecting data.

In response to public outcry, the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) began an investigation. The primary ethical concerns were whether subjects were given proper informed consent and whether penicillin should have been administered when recognized as a suitable treatment for syphilis. The dozens of men who died after that time were then preventable deaths, and the infection of wives, sexual partners, and children could have been prevented as well.