The article, published by PRICEONOMICS on April 19, 2016, is a reminder of what happened when Americans were swept up by an ideology of elitism.
Orphaned children were deemed “feeble minded” and warehoused in state institutions where, among other abuses, they were used as human guinea pigs by researchers at prestigious universities.
The reporter, Zachary Crockett, was clearly moved by the victimization of vulnerable children who were exploited as convenient guinea pigs in radiation-laced nutrition experiments. The researchers were affiliated with MIT and Harvard University; funding was provided by Quaker Oats and and the Atomic Energy Commission which approved the experiments and supplied the radioisotope.
Children at Fernald State School were fed Radioactive Cereal
“For MIT—one of the country’s premier universities—the Fernald Center was the perfect place to conduct research. Subjects were easy to coax into participating, were an ideal control group, and, most importantly, were oblivious to whatever they were being subjected to. When researchers began their Quaker Oats-funded study in 1949, they knew just where to go.”
“Some of us had to sign our own forms, but at that particular time I could not read or write,” recalled Austin LaRoque, years later. “I had no knowledge of anything other than the fact that I do what I’m told when I’m told.”
“It would take more than 40 years for the details of the study to be excavated.”
At the Senate Committee hearing on Human Subject Research (Radiation Experiments) on January 13, 1994, Sen. Edward (Ted) Kennedy, Chairman of the committee asked MIT’s director of research, Dr. Betran Brill, “Why weren’t we testing MIT students?…What about some of our excellent private schools around here? Why not do it on those?” Dr. Brill later conceded: “I admit they shouldn’t have focused on a population that was so captive and had not alternative. That was wrong.”
The New York Times published 3 scientists’ Letters to the Editor in 1994: here, here, and here Two defend the radiation experiments on children — much as medical researchers defend current unethical experiments such as the restricted oxygen SUPPORT experiment on premature babies. We post below, the one critical letter the Times published. PHILIP SIEKEVITZ, Professor Emeritus of Rockefeller University reminds readers of the “slippery slope…” that inevitably leads to barbarism.
Philip Siekevitz
Experiment Lacked Informed Consent Published: February 12, 1994
To the Editor:
Re “Radiation Experiment Met Ethical Tests” by Norman Fine (letter, Jan. 31), on the experimental use of radioactive calcium on human subjects in experiments done some 40 years ago: The author misses, deliberately or not, the main point. The main point concerning humans as guinea pigs is informed consent.
Even though the procedure used was relatively harmless, as the author asserts, and I agree with him, the subjects were young institutionalized boys of “inadequate intelligence.” The paper thanks them for having “volunteered for the experiments,” a meaningless phrase, considering their lack of comprehension.
Their use was sanctioned by a medical review committee of the Atomic Energy Commission, which incidentally supplied the radioisotope and, with the Quaker Oats Company, paid for the research. That is hardly a disinterested group to judge the ethics of the experiment.
A question might have been put as to why student volunteers were not used, with a controlled diet and a comprehension of the pluses and possible negatives arising from being a part of the experiment.
Thus, while this situation may not have been thought to be fraught with medical difficulties, it was contaminated by ethical doubts. Informed consent was cast aside, a slippery slope was put into place, and we all know that leading down that slope was a barbaric chasm, a horror I am sure was known to the investigators of 40 years ago.
PHILIP SIEKEVITZ New York, Feb. 1, 1994 The writer is professor emeritus of cell biology, Rockefeller University.
In 2004, Michael D’Antonio published The State Boys Rebellion, and in 2013, Allen Hornblum published Against Their Will — both books deal with the victimization of children as human guinea pigs.
A large-scale Harvard meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, is the first ever to evaluate the relationship between different anticonvulsant drugs and the risk of suicide in for patients with diverse diagnoses: " the risk was derived from the specific drug that the patient was taking and not their underlying conditions."
TONIGHT ABC “PRIMETIME LIVE” INVESTIGATION reveals evidence that drug makers suppressed antidepressant info Thu, 9 Dec 2004 At least 100 children have committed suicide while on an SSRI antidepressant, hundreds more have attempted suicide. Tonight at 10:00 PM, ABC Prime Time Live will reveal internal company documents that show how…
"It is simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published, or to rely on the judgment of trusted physicians or authoritative medical guidelines. I take no pleasure in this conclusion, which I reached slowly and reluctantly over my two decades as an editor of The New England Journal of Medicine." Marcia Angell, MD
A study published in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, found that advanced chemotherapy put patients at far greater risks of harm than adverse effect reports from clinical trial data reveal.
Presented by Vera Hassner Sharav 14th Tri-Service Clinical Investigation Symposium Sponsored by The U.S. Army Medical Department and The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancment of Military Medicine
The cornerstone of public trust in medical research is the integrity of academic institutions and the expectation that universities, which rely on public funding, have a responsibility to serve the public good. Financial conflicts of interest affect millions of American people – those who are subjects of clinical trials testing new drugs and those who are prescribed drugs after their approval.
AHRP Press Briefing Scientists Will Analyze SSRI Data – Families Will Tell Their Tragedies THE ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION (AHRP) 142 West End Ave. Suite 28P New York, NY 10023 January 27, 2004 Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav President, AHRP Tel. No: 212-595-8974 E-mail: Contact: Lisa Van Syckel Family Liaison…