Last year during Black History Month, I took the time to remind readers about the atrocities committed against people of color…citizens of the City of Philadelphia, by the University of Pennsylvania, Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and the now deceased Dr. Albert Kligman, MD, Ph.D.
In 2021 the University of Pennsylvania made a statement in recognition of Kligman’s legacy. Kligman was a long-standing member in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania prior to his death in 2010. He conducted decades of research at Philadelphia’s Holmesburg Prison and other institutions on incarcerated populations.
https://www.med.upenn.edu/evpdeancommunications/2021-08-20-283.html
An apology was included in a statement by J. Larry Jameson, Dean of Penn Medicine. With the apology, Jameson also offered steps that Penn Medicine was making, in an attempt, to atone for the wrongs committed by Kligman. https://www.inquirer.com
On Thursday, October 6th, the City of Philadelphia took the opportunity to apologize for the experiments conducted by the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia’s Holmesburg Prison. From the 1950s to the 1970s, inmates were intentionally exposed to pharmaceuticals, viruses, fungus, asbestos, and even dioxin, a component of Agent Orange. The vast majority of those subjected to this wide range of experimentation were Black men, many of them illiterate, awaiting prosecution, and attempting to save enough money to make bail.
Whatever the “ethical norms” for prison experimentation were at the time, it was wrong to exploit this vulnerable population. This is yet another example of the disgraceful and unethical practice of medical experimentation on people of color throughout our country’s history.
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Thank you for reading Lorraine Lavender-Sams’ article on scoopnewsusa.com. For more on “An Apology Decades Too Late”, please subscribe to SCOOP USA Media. Print subscriptions are $75 and online subscriptions (Print, Digital, and VIZION) are $90. (52 weeks / 1 year).
