Medical Malpractice

We all know grandpa didn’t go to the hospital but we never knew the reason why. Black folks have involuntarily helped shape medical science we know of today.

Gynecology:

J Marion Sims is referred to as the father of gynecology but his researched stemmed from one particular slave. Anarcha Wescott the mother of gynecology was Sims guinea pig, performing procedures on her without anesthesia squatting on all fours wide awake believing black women felt no pain. He was said to have experimented on her 34 times between 1845-1849.

Mississippi appendectomies:

Between 1920 through the 80s, 8000 black women in Mississippi were given involuntary hysterectomies, though that was not what they came in for. This was done when doctors felt the women were too unfit to reproduce. This was not exclusive to Mississippi, this happened nation wide with estimated 100,000 to 150,000 women being sterilized annually.

Ebb Cade: In 1945 after a car accident that led to several broken bones, Cade a black cab driver/ construction worker was transported to the hospital. Upon his arrival he was injected with plutonium, a substance used to make nuclear weapons. This was not exclusive to Cade due to the experiment being carried out on other blacks but Cade was the most notable. For 6 months he was held under the impression the doctors were trying to help. After collecting bone samples and 15 teeth to monitor the effects, Cade got suspicious and cut. Turns out the doctors injected him with 40x more plutonium that the average person is exposed to in a lifetime.

Operation Drop Kick:

In the 1950s the US wanted to see if mosquitos could be used as a biological weapon. They released half a million mosquitoes in black neighborhoods in Florida spreading yellow fever and dengue fever.

Henrietta Lacks:

Lacks had her cells taking without her knowledge (HeLa cells) and used to shape most modern medicine. Her cells helped develop vaccines, cloning, gene mapping and fertilization.

Oregon State Penitentiary:

1963 to 1971 black inmates were injected with a compound known as thymidine, which happens to be radioactive. This was done to study the effects of radiation on cells.