Peter Buxtun

Peter Buxtun (sometimes referred to as Peter Buxton) is a former employee of the United States Public Health Service who became known as the whistleblower responsible for ending the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment.

Buxtun, then a 27-year-old social worker and epidemiologist in San Francisco,cite news|title=The legacy of Tuskegee|last=Heller|first=Jean|work=St Petersburg Times|date=July 20, 1997|page=1D] was hired by the Public Health Service in December 1965 [cite book|title=Research Methods for Social Work|last=Rubin|first=Allen|coauthors=Babbie, Earl R.|year=2005|publisher=Thomson Wadsworth|page=70|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=eAdbEn-yZbcC&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=%22peter+buxtun%22+syphilis&source=web&ots=k9kE54DMeS&sig=WPZY3SohO7ZNJv6Oq2vC8JOI_58&hl=en#PPA70,M1] to interview patients with sexually-transmitted diseases; in the course of his duties, he learned of the Tuskegee Experiment from co-workers. He later said—"I didn't want to believe it. This was the Public Health Service. We didn't do things like that." In November 1966, he filed an official protest on ethical grounds with the Service's Division of Venereal Diseases; this was rejected on the grounds that the Experiment was not yet complete. He filed another protest in November 1968; again, his concerns were ruled irrelevant. [cite journal|url=http://minority-health.pitt.edu/archive/00000393/01/The_Tuskegee_Syphilis_Study_1932_to.pdf|last=Thomas|first=Stephen B., PhD|coauthors=Quinn, Sandra Crouse, MEd|title=The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, 1932 to 1972: Implications for HIV Education and AIDS Risk Education Programs in the Black Community|journal=American Journal of Public Health|volume=81|issue=11|month=November|year=1991|pages=1498–1505|issn=1541-0448|publisher=American Public Health Association|accessdate=2008-03-06]

In 1972, Buxtun leaked information on the Tuskegee Experiment to Jean Heller of the "Washington Star". Heller's story exposing the Experiment was published on July 25, 1972; the Experiment was terminated shortly thereafter. [cite news|title=Tuskegee's long arm still touches a nerve|last=Stryker|first=Jeff|work=New York Times|date=13 April 1997|page=4] Buxtun subsequently testified at the ensuing Congressional hearing.

In May 1999, Buxtun attended the launch of a memorial center and public exhibit to the experiment in Tuskegee. [cite news|title=Center launched as training tool|work=Associated Press|date=May 17, 1999]

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