The editorial attacked programs which issue placebos to people with AIDS when testing inexpensive low-dose AZT treatments in Africa, on the grounds that failing to offer treatment is akin to the notorious Tuskegee experiments on men with syphillis for which President Clinton recently apologized. Defenders of using placebos in such research say they are the only way of proving that low doses of AZT are better than leaving the disease untreated.
Despite the resignations, the Journals editor, Dr. Jerome Kassirer, said the board had never been consulted over the specific content of articles or editorials.