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The government giving STIs to black men without their knowledge, police lying about the deaths of people who just went out to watch the football and an impostor who helped start a war are among these bizarre-sounding conspiracy theories that actually turned out to be true. Don't read on if you ever want to trust anyone again.
This US experiment ran from 1932-1972 and involved giving nearly 400 African American men syphilis without their knowledge or consent. The men were told they had "bad blood" rather than being informed they had the STI or being treated for it. The study aimed to see if the STI affected black men differently from white men and by the time it ended only 74 of the original participants were alive.