“ETHICALLY IMPOSSIBLE” STD Research in Guatemala from 1946-1948 
research in humans following intentional exposure to Neisseria gonorrhoeae , 
the bacterium that causes gonorrhea. Dr. Moore forwarded the question to 
Dr. A.N. Richards, CMR Chair. 58 Dr. Richards promptly responded that 
human experimentation was “not only desirable but necessary in the study 
of many of the problems of war medicine which confront us.” 59 Dr. Richards 
emphasized strict constraints for informed consent: 
“When any risks are involved, volunteers only should be utilized as 
subjects, and these only after the risks have been fully explained 
and after signed statements have been obtained which shall prove 
that the volunteer offered his services with full knowledge and 
that claims for damages will be waived. An accurate record should 
be kept of the terms in which the risks were described.” 60 
Dr. Moore subsequently organized a meeting of the NRC Subcommittee on 
Venereal Diseases, 61 at which Dr. Carpenter and his fellow researcher Dr. 
Alfred M. Cohn, from the New York City Department of Health, discussed 
their ideas. The NRC Subcommittee 62 agreed that Dr. Moore, as Chairman, 
should “attempt to obtain official government backing. . .through the Surgeons 
General of the Army, Navy, and Public Health Service, the Committee on 
Medical Research, and OSRD.” 63 
Dr. Moore succeeded in his efforts. In November and early December 1942, 
leaders from the PHS, the Army, and the Navy endorsed the proposal that 
Dr. Carpenter had initiated, so long as “volunteers” only were exposed to 
infection. Dr. Thomas Parran, PHS Surgeon General, explained his support: 
“Because of the great prevalence of gonorrhea and its importance in 
the production of noneffective [sic] man-days both in the armed 
forces and civilian population, I believe that the human inocula- 
tion experiments proposed by Doctor Carpenter are justifiable if 
the human subjects are selected on a voluntary basis.” 64 
Colonel John A. Rogers, Executive Officer of the U.S. Army Medical Corps 
agreed “that the National Research Council [should] undertake an investiga- 
tion in search of an effective prophylaxis and improved treatment for gonorrheal 
infections, using selected human volunteers.” 65 “Any progress in this field,” he 
explained, “will have a direct bearing on the conservation of manpower engaged 
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