Letter to J S Harrington, Subject: Investigation Into Radiation Experimentation for Human Subjects

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The Honorable John S. Herring ton Department of Energy Dear Secretary Herrington: As you know, t h e Subcommittee on Energy Conservation and Power has been conducting an investigation into radiation results of that investigation,a Subcommittee staff report title "American Nuclear Guinea P i g s : Three Decades of Radiation Experiments on U.S. Citizens.. experimentation for human subjects.I am forwarding t o you the This report reviewed Department of Energy documents, which i k revealed the frequent and systematic use of human subjects a s guinea pigs for i adi ation experiments sponsored by the Department's predecessor agencies. Some of these experiments we conducted inthe1940s and 1950s, and others were performed duri ; describes in detail 31 experiments during which about 695 person: & the supposedly more enlightened 1960s and 1970s. The report I n many of these experiments, individuals were exposed t o radiation which provided little or no medical benefit to the subjects. The purpose of several of these experiments was actually to cause injury to the participants. Many others sought simply t o measure the effects of radiation on humans. Americari citizens thus became nuclear cal ibrat ion devices for experiment e r Ina number of experiments, subjects received doses that exceeded presently recognized 1i m its for occupational radiation exposure. Doses were a s much as98 times the body burden recognized atthe time the experiments were conducted. Too many of these experiments used human subjects that were captive audiences or populations that some experimenters frighteningly perhaps might have considered 'expendable:' the elderly,prisoners,hospital patients suffering f tom terminal diseases or who might not have retained their full faculties for

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The Honorable JohnS. Hcrrfngton Some of the more repugnant or bizarre of these experiments include the following: patients believed to have limited life spans were injected with --From 1961to 1965, atthe Massachusetta Institute of Technology, 20elderly subjects were injected or fed radium or patients with good kidney function were injected with uranium salts to determine the concentration which would produce renal --From 1953 t o 1957, a t Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, approximately 12 terminal brain tumor patients were injected with uranium t o determine the dose at which ki.dney damage --From 1963 t o 1971, 67 inmates a t Oregon State Prison and 6 4 inmates a t Washington State prison received x-rays to their testes t o examine the effects of radiation on human fertility and --From 1963 t o 1965, at the A td mic Energy Commission's National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho, radioactive iodine was purposely released on seven separate occasions. I n one experiment, seven human subjects drank milk from cows which had --From 1961to 1963, a t the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory, 102 human subjects were fed real fallout from the Nevada Test Site ; simulated fallout particles containing radioactive material ; or solutions of radioactive cesium and --During the late 19SOs, a t Columbia University and Montef iore Hospital, the Bronx, 12 terminal cancer patients were injected with radioactive calcium and strontium. These experiments, and others described in the Subcommittee staff report, shock the conscience and represent a black mark on the history of nuclear medical research. They raise one major horrifying question: did the intense desire to know the consequences of radioactive exposure after the dawn of the atomic age lead American scientists to mimic the kind of demented human experiments conducted by the Nazis? Did the Department or its

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predecessor agencies fund O K sponsor programs which crossed the line that no scientific research can ever.be permitted t o t r av er se 7 While it is clear that present public and scientific officials are generally not responsible for these experiments, these circumstances nonetheless represent a historical, institutional failure. To compound the evil,intoo mar;y experiments, no long term follow up was conducted of subjects. While these experiments cannot be undone, though they must never be repeated, there are potential remedial steps that can be taken to help the victims who served a s human nuclear guinea pigs. I therefore urge the Department of Energy t o make every practicable effort to identify the persons who served a s experimental subjects,to examine the long term histories of . subjects for an increased incidence of radiation - associated diseases, and t o compensate these unfortunate victims for suspected damages. A Defense Department program provides a model for such follow up. The Nuclear Test Personnel Review, administered by the Defense Nuclear Agency, is a registry for military personnel exposed to fallout from atmospheric nuclear tests. The primary objectives of the Review are to identify the approximately 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 Defense Department personnel involved i n such tests,to determine their exposures, to identify incidences of death or illness, and to assist veterans in claims for If such an effort can be carried out for military personnel. acting in the line of duty,surely a similar effort should be possible for the far smaller number of peaceful atomic soldiers used < as unwitting human subjects in radiation experiments. If yo1 feel that new legislation would be necessary, the Subcommittee will be pleased to work with the Department t o develop it. the Subcommittee staff report,please contact John Abbotts o r Larry Sidman at 202-226-2424. 1 look forward t o receiving by November 15, 1986 a description of the Department's plans for fonc term follow up of these experimentally irradiated subjects, and your recommendation for what new legislation, if any, might be If you have any questions on the material in this letter or