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June 15, 2012

Judge Dismisses Suit by Guatemalans Intentionally Exposed to STDs by U.S. Researchers 
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A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed on behalf of a group of
Guatemalans who were unknowingly exposed to syphilis, gonorrhea and
other sexually transmitted diseases by U.S. researchers in the 1940s.
Under the experiments, U.S. medical officials intentionally infected
more than 2,000 Guatemalan sex workers, prisoners, soldiers and mental
patients to study the effects of penicillin. On Thursday, U.S. District
Judge Reggie Walton said federal laws bar suits for harm caused abroad.
The Obama administration had argued for the case's dismissal, saying
sovereign immunity protects federal health officials from litigation
stemming from the experiments.

 

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