Two cheers for Secretary Hazel O'Leary of the U.S. Department of Energy.
By promising to review and disclose some 800 experiments in which civilians were exposed to radiation in concentrations far above what is considered safe today, she is shining a bright light into one of this nation's dark corners.Sadly, the usual third cheer is not in order because her investigation into the tests conducted during the 1940s and 1950s is not entirely voluntary but comes in response to an expose published by the Albuquerque Tribune - whose disclosures are performing a valuable public service.
Though a few excuses can be made for using human beings as guinea pigs, they are pathetically weak alibis and the disclosures are still stomach-wrenching.
What excuses?
For one thing, science did not know nearly as much about the hazards of radioactivity during those post-World War II experiments as it does now. For another, medical ethics have tightened considerably in recent years. Today doctors go to much greater lengths to inform patients about the details and possible risks of experimental techniques. Moreover, the purpose of the experiments was to gain information needed to help patients and strengthen national security.
Even so, the tests still represent the triumph of good intentions over good judgment. The experimenters have lost track of the human guinea pigs, including newborn infants and prison inmates, who could get cancer as a result of the tests involving radioactive materials.
Moreover, the tests at government laboratories and prominent research institutions violated an old and firmly established principle of ethics: Treat people as ends in and of themselves, not as means to an objective.
Consequently, no matter how vigorously O'Leary digs into it, this scandal seems bound to leave the public with a lingering distrust of government and medicine.