ETHICALLY IMPOSSIBLE” STD Research in Guatemala from 1946-1948 
work.” Dr. Mahoney did point out, however, that Dr. Soper was the responsible 
official of the study and as such was “entitled to complete confidence .” 598 
In the same letter, Dr. Cutler also cautioned that, as Dr. Mahoney knew, “it 
is imperative that the least possible be known and said about this project, for 
a few words to the wrong person here, or even at home, might wreck it or 
parts of it .” 599 Dr. Cutler told Dr. Mahoney that his staff had found that there 
had been “more talk here than we like” and that knowledge of the work had 
turned up in “queer places .” 600 Dr. Cutler said that he believed the whole staff 
realized the confidential nature of the project but that husbands and wives 
also knew about the project, and with the “frequent social gatherings at which 
especially interesting topics may be discussed,” it was “quite a temptation to 
talk more than is wise .” 601 
Dr. Cutler told Dr. Mahoney that the “four of us in our project ” 602 had 
discussed the matter and felt that “we should do all possible to keep knowl- 
edge of our project restricted .” 603 To that end, Dr. Cutler requested permission 
from Dr. Mahoney to send the “detailed reports and discussions of our work 
directly to you and not through any other person here .” 604 While the NIH 
Division of Research Grants under Dr. Van Slyke did not require more than 
annual reports from its researchers , 605 PASB required monthly progress 
reports from the Guatemala staff . 606 In order to fulfill this requirement, Dr. 
Cutler suggested that they could send PASB “the barest summaries of our 
progress .” 607 Dr. Cutler also had sent monthly progress reports to VDRL on 
Staten Island , 608 but in June he requested that he might send these monthly 
reports directly to Dr. Mahoney and not through any other person in Guate- 
mala. Dr. Cutler also told Dr. Mahoney that “any letters directly respecting 
our work” could be sent to him through “APO [Army/Air Force Post Office] 
if not urgent” or sent to him at the Ministry of Public Health . 609 
“In regard to the amount of gossip which the work in Guatemala had engen- 
dered,” Dr. Mahoney later assured Dr. Cutler, “we are doing our utmost 
here to restrict our own conversations and those of others bearing upon the 
matter .” 610 Dr. Mahoney had “been aware of considerable conversation and 
discussion” that was “being carried out in rather high places, much of which 
has not helped the work greatly .” 611 Dr. Mahoney advised Dr. Cutler that they 
were forwarding all of Dr. Cutler’s reports to Dr. Heller “in a way which we 
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