Santayanaʼs Warning Unheeded

Abstract

The recent social and scientific confrontations with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) echo those of syphilis 100 years ago. Various historical parallels and outright recurrences in politics and medical ethics, in the courts and in the laboratory, are presented to show the failure of government and other social institutions to recognize the precedents and apply the lessons of history effectively in meeting the challenge of AIDS. Equivocating politicians, social intolerance, the insurance industry, and a medically ignorant public are considered the chief problems in combating AIDS rather than the temporary deficiencies in scientific knowledge. An active, instituted role of historians in policy decisions and public education is urged.