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Interview with Dr. Helen E. Van Al stine by Dr. Marks and Mr. Miazga a t 3:15 pm on 5 / 2 / 7 4 a t Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York. was the physician assistant to Dr. Sam Bassett in the metabolic ward of Strong Memorial Hospital where t h e eleven She has been a physician inthe Student Health Service at Vassar College Dr. Van Al stine Rochester patients were injected. Dr. Van Al stine did not seem t o have been in contact with others about this matter since she left Rochester t o be employed asa physician inthe Vassar College Student Health - Service. Dr. Van Al stine stated that her role in the metabolic ward was that of a person doing leg work and routine medical activities for Dr. Samuel H. Bassett whom she assisted in carrying out his clinical and research activities on the ward. She remembered this particular project but did not know what was done to the patients relative to the Atomic Energy Project. She stated that she had no part in the selection of patients, and was not present when Dr. Bassett o r anyone else held discussions with the patients regarding their reasons for being injected or the reasons for transferring the patients to the metabolic ward. She did recall handling specimens obtained from the HP cases and shipping them toDr. Wright Langham atLos Alamos. Although i t was customary to collect 24 hour urine and stool specimens i n the metabolic ward, the shipment with all necessary security precautions proved t o be a bothersome chore. She did know that radioactive isotopes were used inthe study but did not know which isotope or isotopes were Dr. Van Al stine described Dr.Bassett as a very shy, uncommunicative person. She knew him quite well, having served as his technician during
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the thirties prior to going t o Medical School. After completing her training, she went t o work forDr.Bassett on his ward and served i n that capacity until she left Rochester t o go t o Vassar. I n view of the security precautions in the Rochester Atomic Energy Project and Dr.Bassett ' s uncommunicative nature, she was not surprised that she acquired no information about the nature of the isotope study on these he showed Dr. Van Al stine a drawer with papers i n it which he said provided information about the patients.Dr. Van Al stine was t o examine those papers ifDr.Bassett failed to return from his trip. Since Dr. Bassett returned without mishap there was no occasion forDr. Van Al stine to look at the contents of the drawer. She did say that before Dr. Bassett went to Bikini in July 1946 Dr. Van Al stine did recall injecting one patient with a classified She didn ' tre cal lsubstance, the nature of which was not known toher. whether that injection was part of the plutonium o r some other experiment since other isotopes may have been investigated on the ward at that time. She said that this was done pursuant to instructions from Dr.Bassett, who was in the Pacific for official reasons atthe time. The only respect in which the plutonium experimental subjects differed from other patients on the ward was inthe manner of handling the specimens. The plutonium cases required shipment of excretion specimens t o Los Alamos.
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Dr. Van Al stine described inconsiderable detail the elaborate security precautions that prevailed in the Rochester Atomic Energy Project at the time. She said that each individual ' s activities were conducted on a need-to-know basis and that there was very little concern with what other people might be doing. In fact,there was a conscious avoidance of the acquisition of information chat was not required in one ' s own activities. When Dr. Van Al stine left Rochester i n 1947, she said that she blotted out the Manhattan Engineering District and Atomic Energy Commission activities quite completely from her mind. Since leaving Rochester, she recalled seeing Dr. Bassett only once despite her personal regard for him. The only other individual that Dr. Van Al stine thought w e might have questioned was Dr. Keutman, who studied Addison's Disease and had some patients with that disease on the metabolic ward from time to time. However, Dr. Keutman died recently. When w e mentioned Dr. Waterhouse's name, Dr. Van Al stine was surprised to hear that Dr. Waterhouse i s still a t Rochester. She felt that Dr. Waterhouse's connection with the metabolic ward would have been slight during the period in question. When Dr. Van Al stine was shown copies of clinical material regarding individual cases, she did not recall the cases. She also did not recall an exchange of letters between herself and Dr. Langham. However, her manner during the discussion did not convey an impression of deception.