ETHICALLY IMPOSSIBLE” STD Research in Guatemala from 1946-1948 
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This work also proceeded under the auspices of NRC and OSRD. Mahoney, J.F., Arnold, R.C., Harris, A. 
(1943). Penicillin treatment of early syphilis: A preliminary report. American Journal of Public Health 
and the Nation’s Health 33(12):1390; Parascandola, J. (2008). Sex, Sin, and Science: A History of Syphilis 
in America. Westport, CT: Praeger, 129. 
Mahoney, J.F., Arnold, R.C., Harris, A. (1943). Op cit., p. 1390; New Magic Bullet. (1943). TIME 
Magazine, October. 
Before the development of penicillin, options for treating syphilis included mercury, arsenic, bismuth, 
iodides, and sodium thiosulphate. There were several types of arsenical drugs, with varying efficacies 
and toxicities. Salvarsan proved the most toxic and thus was generally replaced by neoarsphenamine, 
sulpharsphenamine, and silverarsphenamine. Callis, H.A. (1929). Comparative therapy in syphilis. Journal 
of the National Medication Association 21(2):61-63. However, none of these drugs were completely 
effective, particularly in the late stages of disease. The larger issue was associated adverse events, 
including dermatitis, argyria, kidney irritation, and injury to blood, blood-forming organs, and cerebral 
vessels. 
New Magic Bullet. (1943). TIME Magazine, October. In 1943, state health departments in the United States 
reported cases of primary and secondary syphilis at a rate 63.8 per 100,000. Ten years later, once penicillin 
had been made available and widely adopted throughout the United States, cases of primary and secondary 
syphilis dropped over 90 percent to a rate of 5.6 per 100,000. CDC. (1998). Sexually Transmitted Disease 
Surveillance 1997. CDC: Prevention, Division STD Prevention, 65. 
Moore, J.E., Mahoney, J.F., et al. (1944). The treatment of early syphilis with penicillin: A preliminary 
report of 1,418 cases. Journal of the American Medical Association 126(2):67-73. The experiment began in 
September 1943. 
Parascandola, J. (2008). Op cit., p. 129-130. There was debate about how much penicillin to use in the 
treatment of syphilis in 1944, as evidenced by discussion at a Penicillin Conference chaired by Dr. Moore 
and held under the auspices of PHS, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and NRC a couple of years 
later. Dr. Mahoney et al. used 1.2 million units of penicillin over seven and a half days in their first four 
cases. Mahoney, J.F., Arnold, R.C., Harris, A. (1943). Op cit., p. 1390. According to the discussion at the 
Penicillin Conference, the Armed Forces, with the advice of the Subcommittee on Venereal Diseases, 
doubled that when it implemented penicillin treatment for syphilis in 1944, using 2.4 million units in seven 
and a half days. Penicillin Conference Under the Auspices of the U.S. Public Health Service, Food and 
Drug Administration, and National Research Council. March 27, 1946, at 158-159. 
Moore, J.E., Mahoney, J.F., et al. (1944). Op cit. In response to Mahoney and Arnold’s preliminary results, 
a Penicillin Panel was formed under the auspices of OSRD and the Subcommittee on Venereal Diseases. 
The Panel initially consisted of Drs. Moore and Mahoney; Commander Walter Schwartz, U.S. Navy; 
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Sternberg, U.S. Army Medical Corps; and Dr. Barry Wood. Dr. John Heller, 
Medical Director in charge of the Venereal Disease Division, was later added to the Panel. As discussed 
below, the Penicillin Panel was renamed the Syphilis Study Section in 1946. Fox, D.M. (1987). The politics 
of the NIH Extramural Program, 1937-1950. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 
42(4):458-459. 
In addition, while syphilis is typically only contagious in its first stage, rapid treatment with penicillin may 
make people susceptible to new infections and put them once again in a transmissible stage. 
National Research Council - U.S. Public Health Service. (1946). Transcript: Meeting of Penicillin 
Investigators, National Academy of Science, Washington, D.C; John Cutler. (1955, February 24). Final 
Syphilis Report. PCSBI HSPI Archives, CTLR 0000892. 
John Cutler. (1955, February 24). Final Syphilis Report. PCSBI HSPI Archives, CTLR 0000639. 
Ibid. 
Ibid. The results do not appear to have been published. 
Ibid. 
John Cutler. (1952, October 29). Experimental Studies in Gonorrhea. Report. PCSBI HSPI Archives, 
CTLR 0001279. 
Ibid, PCSBI HSPI Archives, CTLR 0001278. 
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