Final report of the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments.

  • United States. Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments.
Date:
1996
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Final report of the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    This book describes, in fascinating detail, a variety of experiments sponsored by the U.S. government in which people were exposed to radiation, often without their knowledge or consent. Based on a review of hundreds of thousands of heretofore unavailable and, in some cases, classified documents, the Final Report of the Advisory Committee on Human dent Clinton in January 1994, tells a gripping story about the relationship between science and the state and its impact on citizens and communities. Carried out at the height of the Cold War and often under a thick veil of government secrecy, the experiments included administer- ing radioactive tracers to teenagers at a school for the mentally retarded, irradiating the testi- cles of prison inmates, injecting plutonium into hospital patients, and intentional releases of radiation into the environment. The book places these experiments within their histori- cal context and reviews the relevant govern- ment policies and ethics standards at the time. This review of policies and ethics is then extended to contemporary research on human subjects. The book concludes with a discus- sion of the Committee’s key findings and a set of recommendations for changes in insti- tutional review boards, the interpretation of ethics rules and policies, the conduct of research involving military personnel, the oversight and accountability for ethical viola- tions, compensation for research injuries, and balancing national security interests with the rights of the public. This compelling volume will prove to be a landmark in the develop- ment of standards for human experimenta- tion. ~ mae |