Interview of H L Friedell in the Case Western Reserve Medical School in Cleveland, April 25, 1974 (Plutonium Injections)

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Interview of Dr.Hymer L. Friedel l by Dr. Marks and Mr. Miazga i n Dr.Friedel l ' s office in the Case Western Reserve Medical School i n Cleveland a t 9:00 a m on 4 / 2 5 / 74.Dr.Fried ellis Chairman of the Department of Radiology inthe Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. H e was Executive Officer and then Deputy Chief of the Medical Section of the Manhattan Project.Dr.Friedel l was the first medical officer in the Project. Dr.Friedel l described the stringent security invo3ved inthe plutonium project and mentioned the code names-"product" and "49" for plutonium (the latter a transposition of the atomic number 94). He said that meetings a t which the injection of plutonium into patients was discussed occured fora considerable period of time before the start of the program. He stated that he attended several such meetings but was not present at any meeting when the decision to proceed with the program was actually made. Dr.Friedel l said that, although his headquarters was a t Oak Ridge, h e traveled a great deal.He mentioned familiar names of individuals at the various laboratories but claimed that he was not acquainted with the plutonium injection projects at any of the various laboratories where they were carried out. This l a c k of information included Rochester; he seemed t o have no knowledge of who conducted the program or of the plans for carrying out the program there. We specifically questioned Dr.Friedel l about the Oak Ridge patient since w e had previously received a report to the effect that Dr.Friedel l had ordered Dr. J. Howland to inject the one Oak Ridge patient.In response to questioning, Dr.Friedel l denied intimate knowledge of the Oak Ridge case. When specifically asked whether Dr. Howland might have made such an injection,Dr.Friedel l responded that Dr. Howland might have done so, but that Friedel l did not have knowledge of the matter. He said that others who may have been involved would

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have included aDr. Dwight Clark who subsequently went tothe Department of Surgery at the University of Chicago. was eager to inject radioisotopes into people and could therefore have been a prime candidate to give such an injection. Dr.Friedel l provided no information relative to the issue of disclosure to patients,including the Oak Ridge patient. Dr.Friedel l seemed most anxious to talk to us about the history of the Manhattan Project and his role in it. training and was a certified radiologist in 1942. training at the University of California in San Francisco under Dr. Robert S. Stone, but divided his time between the San Francisco and Berkeley campuses. At that time he was obtaining training in the use of radioactive isotopes for that he was not called up for active duty. discovered that the University had certified him t o be essential. Taking exception to the action of the University,Dr.Friedel l volunteered for military He stated that he had completed his H e was then in advanced He was a reserve officer when the war started and was surprised After a period of time Dr. Friedel l duty and was ready to leave Berkeley when the personnel of the Radiation :.\ be assigned tothe Manhattan Project in order to take advantage of his background in the field of radioactive isotopes.He was brought into the Manhattan Project as Executive Officer in the Medical Section.Dr.Friedel l later served as deputy to the chief of the Medical Section,Dr.Stafford L. Warren. Dr.Friedel l went into considerable detail about the division of responsibility between the contractor personnel and the military with respect to the carrying out of research programs. relatively little control over the research activities because. the contractors He implied that the military had

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would claim that they had been assigned responsibility for the research. The contractors would say that,if their performance was not satisfactory, the military had the prerogative of terminating their contracts.He implied that the military,therefore, found it necessary to persuade the contractors of the need for certain programs. These were general comments and were not specifically directed to the human plutonium studies. Dr.Friedel l mentioned a rivalry between Drs.Stafford Warren and Robert Stone. He said that this rivalry stemmed from an early offer to Dr. Stone t o become Chief of the Medical Section of the Manhattan Project, which Stone did not accept. Dr. Stone resented the assumption of the prerogatives of the position by Dr. Warren. Dr.Friedel l indicated that this event led to the rivalry between the two men but that the program was largely dominated by the contractor personnel, principally the scientists working under Dr. Stone. When Dr. Warren was subsequently appointed chief, Dr.Friedel l then pointed out that during the period that this program was developing he had other responsibilities,principally concerning the atomic bomb, that occupied most of his attention.He spent considerable time in one of the two bombed cities in Japan. He stated that Dr. Warren headed up a team that went into the other of the two cities to organize studies.Dr.Friedel l implied that he lost track of the human plutonium experiment because of his preoccupation with the study of atomic bomb effects and various other programs that were his responsibility.