“ETHICALLY IMPOSSIBLE” STD Research in Guatemala from 1946-1948 
Table 1: The Cutler Documents 
DOCUMENT NAME 
1 DATE 
Correspondence 
Aug. 1 946— 
Nov. 1948 
Hundreds of written 
exchanges regarding 
a variety of topics, 
including letters on 
formal letterhead 
as well as informal 
discussions among 
colleagues 
Experimental 
Logbooks 
Various 
The two “Daily 
Laboratory” notebooks 
contain handwritten 
lists of subjects and 
potential subjects 
alongside the results 
of various tests 
The two “Studies 
in the Military” 
notebooks vary in their 
contents 
Subject Note Cards 
Various 
Individual records 
of subjects in the 
Penitentiary and 
Psychiatric Hospital 
Photographs 
Various 
A total of 594 photos 
were taken, including 
372 photos of infected 
subjects from the 
Psychiatric Hospital 
and Penitentiary, 
215 portraits taken 
of subjects in the 
Psychiatric Hospital, 
and seven photos 
of prophylactic 
procedures 
DISTRIBUTION 
Includes 
correspondence 
between Drs. Cutler, 
Arnold, Mahoney, 
Tejeda, and many 
other affiliates of the 
study 
Unknown 
Unknown 
Dr. Heller was 
“interested in having 
photographic records 
Photographs were also 
taken so Dr. Mahoney 
could “have all 
information necessary 
to do any talking that 
you desire” 
Dr. Ingalls H. Simmons 
asked the PHS team 
for photographs “of 
the common venereal 
lesions for the Army 
teaching program,” 
and Dr. Cutler sent 
“photographs of typical 
venereal lesions” to Dr. 
Simmons to be used for 
“teaching filmstrips” 
CONCLUSIONS 
N/A 
N/A 
N/A 
N/A 
110 
