WASHINGTON - President Clinton has officially apologised to the survivors of the infamous Tuskegee experiment in which 400 black men suffering from syphilis were left untreated so that doctors could see what the disease did to their bodies, writes Joe Carroll. The experiment was carried out over 40 years.
Five of the eight survivors were present at the White House when the President expressed his and the country's apology for the experiment. The others and family members watched the apology from Tuskegee by satellite link. Financial compensation and free medical treatment has been provided by the US government since 1974 but this is the first time that an official apology has been given.
Mr Clinton said that "what the American government did was shameful and I am sorry". He said that the victims "did nothing wrong but were gravely wronged". He pledged government funding for a memorial hospital and museum in Tuskegee.
One of the survivors, Mr Herman Shaw (94), speaking on behalf of the victims and their families thanked the President for the apology. He said it would "close this painful chapter in our history" when "we were treated like guinea pigs".