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PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED Visit with Dr. Joe W. Howland, Chapel Hill Holiday Inn, April 24,1974. Dr. Howland was initially stationed with the Manhattan Engineering District in New York and was responsible for occupational medicine aspects ofthe various activities mainly i n production plants. Subsequently, he transferred to Oak Ridge where he was involved i n research until 1947 subsequently was involved inthe organization of the Division of Biology the newly formed AEC. $6: While Dr. Howland was i n Oak Ridge he was aware that the need existed information on the biological behavior of plutonium i n humans. It i s possible that at this time the Oak Ridge group including Howland had prepared the design for an experiment i n which plutonium would be injected in a patient. In April,1945,a patient. was admitted tothe Oak Ridge Hospital with multiple fractures resulting from an automobile accident. informed Dr. Howland that he considered the patient to be a suitable candidate for the human plutonium experiment. Dr. Howland indicated that he did not agree with Dr. Friedel l. Subsequently, Friedel l ordered Dr. Howland t o inject the patient with plutonium. written military order stating that he (Friedel l) ordered Howland to inject Howland was actively involved i n the follow-up of the patient. Howland complies after receiving a During the period that the patient was hospitalized in Oak Ridge, recovered, moved to Atlanta, and was subsequently lost to follow-up. Dr. Howland emphatically stated that no consent was obtained from the patient at any time and that as far as he knew, the patient had no relatives inthe Oak Ridge area. human plutonium studies. Dr. Howland was not involved i n any of the other
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Dr. Howland, on his return to Rochester, was put in charge of the metabolic ward. To his knowledge, the metabolic ward was not involved at any time in the follow-up of plutonium patients. In discussing Dr. Bassett's early involvement in human plutonium studies, Dr. Howland stated that in his judgment it is entirely conceivable that Dr. Bassett would obtain consent from the patient. This statement ' is based on Howland's judgment of Dr. Bassett as a person, rather than direct knowledge of the circumstances of the experiments.