Throughout the 1840s, J. Marion Sims, who is often referred to as "the father of gynecology," performed surgical experiments on enslaved African women, without anesthesia. The women— one of whom was operated … See more

Nonconsensual tests
From 1942 to 1944, the U.S. Chemical Warfare Service conducted experiments which exposed thousands of U.S. military personnel to mustard gas, in order to test the effectiveness of gas masks and protective clothing. See more

At Harvard University, in the late 1940s, researchers began performing experiments in which they tested diethylstilbestrol, a synthetic estrogen, on pregnant women at the Lying-In Hospital of the University of Chicago. The women experienced an … See more

Late 19th century
In the 1880s, in Hawaii, a Californian physician working at a hospital for lepers injected six girls under the age of 12 with syphilis.
In 1895, New York City pediatrician Henry Heiman … See more

Researchers in the United States have performed thousands of human radiation experiments to determine the effects of atomic radiation See more

U.S. government research
The United States government funded and performed numerous psychological experiments, especially during the Cold War era. Many of these experiments were performed to help develop more effective torture See more

The 1846 journals of Walter F. Jones of Petersburg, Virginia, describe how he poured boiling water onto the backs of naked slaves afflicted with typhoid pneumonia, at four-hour intervals, because he thought that this might "cure" the disease by … See more