"One of the most chilling aspects of the experiment was how zealously the PHS kept these men from receiving treatment...

During World War II, 250 of the men registered for the draft and were consequently ordered to get treatment for syphilis, only to have the PHS exempt them. Pleased at their success, the PHS representative announced: “So far, we are keeping the known positive patients from getting treatment.” The experiment continued... in spite of the World Health Organization’s Declaration of Helsinki (1964), which specified that “informed consent” was needed for experiments involving human beings."

(For the full summary, view:
http://www.tuskegee.edu/global/story.asp?s=1207586)