Reasons for the Tuskegee Apology

As previously mentioned, an apology for the Tuskegee incident was absolutely necessary. The government needed to restore public trust into human research, especially amongst the African American population and other minority groups. Given the results of this incident, it would have definitely frightened any potential test subjects from wanting to be betrayed. The apology would serve to remedy the situation. Unfortunately, by the time Bill Clinton gave the apology, there were only a few remaining survivors of the original 600 subjects.

Clinton's apology was effective in accomplishing its goal. He reminded everyone that the intended purpose of human research is to ultimately benefit the human race with medical advancements. In the Tuskegee incident, the poor ethics shown by the researchers should not represent the ethics of human research as a whole. Clinton stressed the importance of these ethics and promised to implement programs that spread the awareness of bioethics. The apology was well received by its audience and the country was able to heal from this event.