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PATIENTS INJECTED WITH PLUTONIUM ( CHRONOLOGY )

HREX; BODY BURDEN; CONSENT ISSUES; ETHICS; EXHUMATION; MEDICAL SURVEILLANCE; PATIENTS; PLUTONIUM; PLUTONIUM INJECTION EXPERIMENT; POSTWAR; WARTIME

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

OTHER

DATA

Never classified

0003

NV0700046

1994 Aug 27

2012 May 14

THESE 2 1/2 TYPEWRITTEN PAGES ARE ENTITLED, "PATIENTS INJECTED WITH PLUTONIUM (CHRONOLOGY)". THEY ARE NOT DATED AND DO NOT CONTAIN INFORMATION AS TO WHO THE AUTHOR MIGHT HAVE BEEN, EXCEPT THAT THE AUTHOR WAS LIKELY EITHER DR. DURBIN OR DR. ROWLAND, OR A STAFF MEMBER OF THEIR LABORATORY. THIS DOCUMENT STATES THAT A TOTAL OF 18 SUBJECTS WERE INJECTED IN 1945-1947 WITH PLUTONIUM IN THE HOSPITALS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, AND UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AS PART OF WARTIME AND POSTWAR MANHATTAN PROJECT ACTIVITIES. THE DOSE INJECTED WERE STATED AS BEING"..7-145 X THE CURRENT OCCUPATIONAL BODY BURDEN." "THE INJECTIONS WERE CARRIED OUT IN AN ATMOSPHERE OF SECRECY, AND WE DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THE PATIENTS WERE INFORMED OF EITHER THE NATURE OR PURPOSE OF THE INJECTIONS." "AFTER FORMATION OF THE AEC ON AUGUST 1, 1946, DOUBTS WERE EXPRESSED CONCERNING THE ETHICS OF THE STUDY. AT ONE TIME, CONSIDERATION WAS GIVEN TO REFERRING THE MATTER TO THE A.M.A. (AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION) ETHICS COMMITTEE BUT THIS WAS NOT DONE." IN 1972 AND 1973, DRS. DURBIN AND ROWLAND DISCUSSED THE POSSIBILITY OF CONDUCTING ADDITIONAL STUDIES ON THE 4 SURVIVING PATIENTS AND ON EXHUMED BODIES FOR WHICH PERMISSION COULD BE OBTAINED. THE STUDIES WERE CONDUCTED AT ROCHESTER AND ARGONNE ON 2 OF 3 ROCHESTER AND 1 CALIFORNIA SUBJECTS DURING THE FIRST HALF OF 1973. AN EXHUMED BODY WAS ALSO STUDIED LATER THAT YEAR. "INFORMED CONSENT, INCLUDING DISCLOSURE THAT PLUTONIUM WAS INJECTED ORIGINALLY, WAS NOT OBTAINED FROM ANY OF THE PATIENTS STUDIED IN 1973. FRANK DISCLOSURE OF THE REASONS FOR THE STUDIES WAS NOT MADE AT ANY TIME IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT ONE PATIENT WAS TRANSPORTED ACROSS COUNTRY TO BE STUDIED. THE STUDIES HAVE NOT BEEN PRESENTED TO HUMAN USE COMMITTEES OF THE VARIOUS INSTITUTIONS FOR THEIR CONSIDERATION." AFTER CONSIDERABLE DISCUSSION, ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS ON THESE STUDIES WERE PRESENTED AT THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF RADIATION RESEARCH IN JULY 1974, COPIES OF WHICH WERE SUBMITTED TO AEC DBER (DIVISION OF BIOMEDICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH).