At one point in time malpractice was a common practice in the health field. Not unlike the Nazis the United States performed their own unethical medical experiments. However experiments taking place on American soil didn't occur only at time of war.

In government documents it is stated that the human test subjects used could have been considered "expendable", including the elderly, prisoners, hospital patients suffering from terminal diseases or who might not have retained their full faculties for informed consent. These experiments often included poisoning the "expendable" with radiation as in a government report titled "American Nuclear Guinea Pigs: Three Decades of Radiation Experiments on U.S. Citizens".

However the U.S. government didn't only conduct these tests on the "expendable".  Americans with fair health as well fell victim to promises of medical treatment. In one of the greatest known cases such experiments took place for decades on poverty stricken black men in Alabama. This was known as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. A study based on infecting unaware patients with syphilis to observe what happens. Not only did they get infected but they were also withheld penicillin which could cure the disease. A formal apology was issued by President Clinton for the government's actions and reparations were agreed to be paid to those involved. 

Another largely known program orchestrated by the CIA was MK-ULTRA established by Richard Helms in an attempt to "reprogram" the personality of humans with the use of biological and chemical substances such as LSD. From 1953 to 1964 MK-ULTRA was conducted, then renamed MK-SEARCH, and continued to operate until 1973. During this time some experimentation included subjects being administered intense electroshocks in addition to LSD, supposedly to break down behavioral patterns, resulting in brain damage and other disabilities. The government didn't stop with LSD however. The MK-ULTRA program established many techniques including the use of other drugs, parapsychology, electrical brain implants, hypnosis, and microwave transmissions to acquire the ability of mind control.

Many of the tests were to simply see what would happen, and if any of the practices were questioned it could be acknowledged as medical studies benefiting the world of science. However did the government need to go as far as lacing children's oatmeal with radioactive substances in orphanages?  Who is to say that similar studies are not still occurring. Is this a government that should be trusted? I'll leave that up to you.

Click the link below to see some documents dealing with the experimentation on U.S. citizens.