While what Dr. Simms did was considered ethical during his times, it is now seen as wrong. There is a debate around the medical area about the ethics around his practices. His surgeries with African American slaves, without anesthesia, shows him taking advantage of his position of power over the vulnerable black population back in the early 19th century. He operated with no patient consent on the African American because of the lack of freedom and rights that were present for them, but because of that time of era, Sims cannot be fairly judged upon his actions. During his time period, society was accepting of the idea that African Americans stood on a lower social level than white people. These ethics are unacceptable in today's society because people are much more accepting of the idea of equal rights among all races; making the actions of Dr. Simms completely unethical. Even though what he did is considered wrong in the eyes of today's society, when we look back with our new sense of morals, it wasn't considered wrong during his time.