The Human Radiation Experiments: Final Report of the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments - Hardcover

Advisory Committee On Human Radiation Experiments

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195107926 ISBN 13: 9780195107920

Publisher: OUP USA, 1996

Synopsis

This book describes, in fascinating detail, a variety of experiments sponsored by the U.S. government in which people were exposed to radiation without their knowledge. After reviewing hundreds of thousands of documents from the Atomic Energy Commission and other agencies, the Advisory Committee appointed by President Clinton in January 1994 found that nearly 4,000 human radiation experiments--most involving very low doses of radioactive tracers--were sponsored by the federal government between 1944-1974. This book documents these findings to provide a fascinating if not disturbing reminder of both the shocking standards for human experimentation and the shrouded practice of government secrecy in recent history.
Carried out at the height of the Cold War, experiments included feeding radioactive cereal to teenagers at a school for the mentally retarded, irradiating the testicles of prison inmates, injecting plutonium into hospital patients, and intentional releases of radiation into the environment. The book places these experiments within their historical context, and a review of the relevant government policies and ethics standards at the time is included. The analysis is then applied to contemporary research on human subjects. The book concludes with a discussion of the Committee's key findings and a set of recommendations for changes in in institutional review boards, the interpretation of ethics rules and policies, the conduct of research involving military personnel, the oversight and accountability for ethical violations, compensation for research injuries, and balancing national securities interests with the rights of the public. This compelling volume will prove to be a landmark in the development of standards for human experimentation. Ethicists, public health professionals and those interested in the history of medicine and Cold War history will be intrigued by the findings in this volume.

About this title

About the Author

About the Committee: On January 15, 1994, President Clinton appointed the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments to investigate reports of possibly unethical experiments funded by the government decades ago. The members of the Advisory Committee included fourteen private citizens from around the country: a representative of the general public, and thirteen experts in bioethics, radiation oncology and biology, nuclear medicine, epidemiology and biostatistics, public health, history of science and medicine, and law. The Advisory Committee submitted its final report to the President in late 1995, and this book contains the entire text of the report. It also includes the full text of the President's remarks in acceptance of the report and a complete index.

From the Back Cover

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.

Edition details

• Publisher: OUP USA
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195107926
• ISBN 13: 9780195107920
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 656
• Editor: Faden Ruth