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Radiation in MRC supported research in the 1950s and 1960s. Report of a committee inquiry[Medical research; Radiation exposure]

Abstract

On 6 July 1995, a television documentary entitled 'Deadly Experiments' was broadcast on Channel 4 as part of the 'True Stories' series. The programme, produced by Twenty-Twenty Television, featured a number of research projects conducted between 1950 and 1970 in which either measurements were made of the amount of radiation absorbed by, or radioactive substances were administered to, human subjects in the UK and USA. The level of public concern generated by the broadcast and the implication of unethical practices in the conduct of some of the research sponsored by the MRC, has acted as the trigger for the MRC to establish this independent Committee of Inquiry. Its remit has been to clarify the facts surrounding the research and to examine issues of 'acceptability and consent in the context of the scientific and ethical standards of the period in, which the research was carried out. The following studies featured in the programme were funded by the MRC. The study measuring levels of Strontium 90 uptake, in which samples of bone were taken at autopsy (the programme featured a case in North Wales where the femora were removed from a deceased infant). The work carried out at University College London and  More>>
Publication Date:
Jul 01, 1998
Product Type:
Miscellaneous
Reference Number:
EDB-00:091307
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: [1998]
Subject:
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGANISMS AND BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS; ETHICAL ASPECTS; IODINE; IONIZING RADIATIONS; RADIATION MONITORING; RADIONUCLIDE ADMINISTRATION; RESEARCH PROGRAMS
OSTI ID:
20099966
Research Organizations:
British Library, Boston Spa (United Kingdom)
Country of Origin:
United Kingdom
Language:
English
Other Identifying Numbers:
TRN: GB9814636046394
Availability:
Available from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:98/16921
Submitting Site:
GBN
Size:
76 pages
Announcement Date:
Oct 19, 2000

Citation Formats

None. Radiation in MRC supported research in the 1950s and 1960s. Report of a committee inquiry[Medical research; Radiation exposure]. United Kingdom: N. p., 1998. Web.
None. Radiation in MRC supported research in the 1950s and 1960s. Report of a committee inquiry[Medical research; Radiation exposure]. United Kingdom.
None. 1998. "Radiation in MRC supported research in the 1950s and 1960s. Report of a committee inquiry[Medical research; Radiation exposure]." United Kingdom.
@misc{etde_20099966,
title = {Radiation in MRC supported research in the 1950s and 1960s. Report of a committee inquiry[Medical research; Radiation exposure]}
author = {None}
abstractNote = {On 6 July 1995, a television documentary entitled 'Deadly Experiments' was broadcast on Channel 4 as part of the 'True Stories' series. The programme, produced by Twenty-Twenty Television, featured a number of research projects conducted between 1950 and 1970 in which either measurements were made of the amount of radiation absorbed by, or radioactive substances were administered to, human subjects in the UK and USA. The level of public concern generated by the broadcast and the implication of unethical practices in the conduct of some of the research sponsored by the MRC, has acted as the trigger for the MRC to establish this independent Committee of Inquiry. Its remit has been to clarify the facts surrounding the research and to examine issues of 'acceptability and consent in the context of the scientific and ethical standards of the period in, which the research was carried out. The following studies featured in the programme were funded by the MRC. The study measuring levels of Strontium 90 uptake, in which samples of bone were taken at autopsy (the programme featured a case in North Wales where the femora were removed from a deceased infant). The work carried out at University College London and reported in 1952 and 1958, in which radioiodine was administered to women in order to measure thyroid function throughout the menstrual cycle and in pregnancy. The work carried out at the Hammersmith Hospital, London, in 1953, in which radioactive sodium was used to measure maternal placental blood flow in normal and hypertensive women. The studies at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, which investigated iodine metabolism and maternal thyroid function during pregnancy, and the development of the human fetal thyroid. The Coventry study in which women from the Asian community were asked to consume specially prepared chapattis in order to measure levels of iron absorption, with a view to investigating the problem of anaemia.}
place = {United Kingdom}
year = {1998}
month = {Jul}
}