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DISCUSSIONS WITH C WATERHOUSE AND BALE, UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER APRIL 18, 1974

HREX; ETHICS; HEALTH HAZARDS; INTERVIEWS; MEDICAL RECORDS; METABOLISM; PATIENTS; PLUTONIUM; PLUTONIUM INJECTION EXPERIMENT; RADIATION EFFECTS; RADIOBIOLOGY

Location - DOE/NNSA NUCLEAR TESTING ARCHIVE Address - P.O. Box 98521 City - Las Vegas State - NV Zip - 89193-8521 Phone - (702)794-5106 Fax - (702)862-4240 Email - NTA@NV.DOE.GOV

CONFERENCE

1974 Apr 18

Never classified

0004

NV0700002

1994 Aug 27

2017 Dec 21

THIS FOUR PAGE DOCUMENT IS TYPEWRITTEN NOTES BY THE AUTHOR AFTER HIS DISCUSSIONS WITH DR. CHRISTINE WATERHOUSE AND DR. BALE. IT WAS THE AUTHOR'S OPINION THAT DR. WATERHOUSE WAS NOT INVOLVED IN THE VERY EARLY PHASE OF THE STUDY. HER OPINIONS AND RECOLLECTIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS: DR. BASSETT RAN THE TWO-BED METABOLISM WARD BY HIMSELF WITH THE HELP OF ONE OTHER PHYSICIAN. PATIENTS ADMITTED TO THIS WARD WERE "RESEARCH MATERIAL" FOR MORE THAN JUST DR. BASSETT. DR. WATERHOUSE ONCE PERFORMED SOME UNRELATED STUDIES ONE OF THOSE PATIENTS INJECTED WITH PLUTONIUM. DR. BASSETT WAS A VERY CONSCIENTIOUS PHYSICIAN AND IT WAS "INCONCEIVABLE" THAT HE WOULD NOT "GO THROUGH THE PROCESS OF DISCUSSING WITH THE PATIENT THE PROCEDURE AND ITS POSSIBLE ADVERSE HEALTH EFFECTS." SHE WAS SURE THAT THE WORD PLUTONIUM WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN USED FOR SECURITY REASONS, BUT IT WAS LIKELY THAT HE TOLD THE PATIENTS HE WAS GOING TO INJECT THEM WITH RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL. IN JULY OF 1948 DR. BASSETT LEFT THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER TO GO TO LOS ANGELES. HE TRANSFERRED THE TWO PATIENTS TO DR. WATERHOUSE, BUT HE ONLY TOLD HER THAT ONE OF THE PATIENTS HAD BEEN INJECTED WITH PLUTONIUM. SHE FOUND OUT ABOUT THE OTHER ONE LATER. BOTH PATIENTS WERE CARED FOR BY DR. WATERHOUSE OVER THE YEARS AND, AT THE TIME OF THE INTERVIEW (APRIL, 1974) WERE STILL BEING SEEN BY HER. SHE STATED THAT BOTH PATIENTS WERE ELDERLY PEOPLE WHO WERE REPEATEDLY ADMITTED TO THE METABOLIC WARD FOR MEDICAL REASONS, NEVER FURTHERING THE PLUTONIUM STUDY. IN THE 1973 TIME FRAME SHE WAS CONTACTED BY ROWLAND AND VISITED BY DR. LITTMAN OF THE CENTER FOR HUMAN RADIOBIOLOGY. SHE AGREED THAT FOR SCIENTIFIC REASONS, IT WAS IMPORTANT TO COLLECT INFORMATION FROM THESE PATIENTS WHEN THEY VISITED THE METABOLIC WARD (FOR MEDICAL REASONS UNRELATED TO THE PLUTONIUM STUDY). SHE AGREED TO ALLOWING THE SCIENTISTS FROM ARGONNE LABORATORY MEASURE THE RADIOACTIVITY IN ONE PATIENT, BUT THE INTERVIEW GAVE NO DETAILS ABOUT HOW AND WHEN THIS MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED. DURING THE VISIT BY THE AUTHOR, DR. WATERHOUSE EMPHASIZED THAT SHE WAS "WILLING AND PLANNING TO DISCLOSE TO BOTH OF THESE PATIENTS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE THE FACT THAT THEY WERE INJECTED WITH PLUTONIUM. SHE HAD NOT DONE IT AT THIS TIME IN ORDER NOT TO INTERFERE WITH ANY PLANS THE COMMISSION MIGHT HAVE HAD FOR DISCLOSURE TO ALL THE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE STUDY." DR. WATERHOUSE ALLOWED THE AUTHOR TO HAVE A QUICK LOOK THROUGH VARIOUS RECORDS. THIS SUPERFICIAL EXAMINATION FOUND NO DOCUMENTS ON INFORMED CONSENT. YET THE AUTHOR DID FIND AND COPY 14 DOCUMENTS RELATED TO THE PLUTONIUM STUDY. THEY ARE LISTED IN THE NOTES. THE AUTHOR DID HAVE A PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION WITH DR. WILLIAM F. BALE OF THE ATOMIC ENERGY PROJECT. DR. BALE DID NOT REMEMBER WHETHER INFORMED CONSENT WAS DISCUSSED BEFORE THE STUDY WAS INITIATED. HE BELIEVED HIS FILES ON THE SUBJECT OF THE MED PHASE OF THE ROCHESTER PROJECT TO BE FAIRLY COMPLETE. HE SUGGESTED THAT HE GO THROUGH THEM TO FIND DOCUMENTS OF INTEREST. THE AUTHOR RECOMMENDED IN HIS REPORT THAT SOMEONE SHOULD VISIT BALE SOON AND EXAMINE HIS RECORDS.