The Times looked at the problem, which could have been the cause for 159 deaths, and revealed why it continues to pose a hazard. This Cleveland Plain-Dealer series examined pharmaceutical research on humans. It found that more than half the researchers inspected by the Food and Drug Administration since 1977 were cited by inspectors for failing to clearly disclose the experimental nature of their work. And, decades after notorious syphilis experiments on blacks at Tuskegee, Alabama, and radiation studies on civilians during the Cold War, the government still is in the business of conducting and paying for medical tests on unwary Americans. The series also revealed that medical ethics committees, considered the front line in protecting patients, are swamped by swelling numbers of studies.
Some committees spend about two minutes reviewing a proposed experiment.
But surgeons on call for five of the largest hospitals in Oklahoma City refused to take Mr. Meier. Copyright 1997 Society of Professional Journalists. All rights reserved.