That Could Never Happen Here.

When I was a kid, way back into another century, people used to act superior to our defeated enemies in other nations. "That could never happen here," they would say about the barbaric policies and medical experiments undertaken by totalitarian regimes. Of course at the same time the Tuskegee syphilis experiment was going on here at home and states were sterilizing the "unfit" in their care, but hey, what do I know. So don't you worry about death panels. They are from the government and they are here to help you. That could never happen here.

That Could Never Happen Here - We'll Do It There

In a previous post, That Could Never Happen Here, I discussed a certain aspect of American hubris regarding government medical programs. I mentioned the Tuskegee Experiment an example of what has happened here. Now evidence of the continuation of that "medical study" has emerged. Dr. John Cutler, with the U.S. Public Health Service, was involved in both experiments. The new evidence details a U.S. funded Guatemalan syphilis experiment conducted on prison inmates. So, if it can't happen here, but did, and it needs to go to another level that can't happen here, we export what can't happen here -- to Guatemala or wherever. Never say never. UPDATE: Now a federal judge has allowed a one billion dollar law suit related to the Guatemalan syphilis experiment to go forward.