U.S. has long history of medical abuse of imprisoned minorities: The Guardian

LONDON, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- The ivermectin experiment in an Arkansas jail has reflected America's "longstanding history of medically abusing vulnerable communities of color", the Guardian has reported.

In August last year, the report said, four inmates at the Washington County Detention Center in northwest Arkansas were unknowingly prescribed ivermectin to treat COVID-19, an anti-parasite drug commonly used on livestock animals.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as Food and Drug Administration, had warned against the use of ivermectin for COVID-19, and the treatment made the inmates suffer a series of side effects, including vision problems, diarrhea and bloody stools.

The report stressed that what happened in the prison "repeats America's dreadful history of racism, as the alleged experimentation forced on the Arkansas inmates recalls a grisly history of medical exploitation by American authorities towards communities and inmates of color."

The newspaper also referred to a research in the 1940s, which involved deliberately exposing Guatemalans to syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases.