Panel finds that it might be nice to help people infected with syphilis by government scientists.

[intrikate88]

Compensation system urged for research victims

The United States should create a system to compensate people who are harmed by participating in scientific research, a panel of federal advisers recommended Tuesday.

Many other countries require sponsors of studies and researchers to carry insurance for research-related injuries or have other ways

Comments

[erunamiryene]

OMG OUT-OF-CONTROL GUMMINT SPENDING. If those people hadn't wanted to be infected, they shouldn't have been where they were at the time. Bootstraps!

Snark aside, I'm really just waiting for the GOP response that says something remarkably similar to my snark. :/

In the government-sponsored studies conducted in Guatemala between 1946 and 1948, doctors tried to infect prisoners, soldiers and mental patients by giving them prostitutes who were carrying the diseases or were infected by the researchers. The researchers also scraped sensitive parts of subjects’ anatomy to expose wounds to disease-causing bacteria, poured infectious pus into subjects’ eyes, and injected some victims’ spines.

What, did you lose your money before you could go full-on Dr. Moreau? JFC.

[intrikate88]

If you head over to the comments section of the article, it's small but full of the usual types of delights, which can be summarized as people sign waivers about risks when they enter studies, now they want my tax dollars for compensation they don't deserve?? Why should I pay for someone else's stupidity??! etc. It's not even worth the energy to point out their reading comprehension fail.

[helenaarriaza]

Sad and ashamed to say this, being a Guatemalan and knowing this had happened. I believe that the authorities in my country will try to juice this out as much as they can, being the presidential elections and all.

Hopefully a clinic, fund or an NGO can be created to treat venereal diseases, this instead of pouring a bucketload of cash onto the government's hands just to be gone in advertising or the president's pocket.

In regards to the studies the US conducted here, I believe this is just the tip of the iceberg.

[marywebgirl]

Regarding the way studies are conducted (which I know something about)I've never seen a sponsor of a study say it wouldn't pay for treatment of injuries or side effects, and I believe this is usually through their insurance. I don't think it's explicitly required by the government, and sometimes they want the study subject to go through their own insurance if they have it first, but if that doesn't work the sponsor pays.

If anyone wants an interesting read about oversight of oversight of studies, check this out:
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2009/ucm149565.htm

Click on the update on the bottom to see what happened.