Medical officials actively blocked the men from getting penicillin, which was the standard cure for syphilis.

By 1945, penicillin was known as a safe, easy cure for syphilis. But researchers did not give it to the men. They even stopped them from getting treatment elsewhere. They wanted to keep watching the disease ruin their bodies. Because of this, over 100 men died. Some passed the disease to their wives and children. The study only stopped in 1972 when a whistleblower told the newspapers.