Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital

          In 1963, Chester M. Southam injected live cancer cells into 22 elderly patients at the Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital in Brooklyn, New York City. This wasn’t Southam’s first time injecting people who were institutionalized, but his goal remained the same: "to "discover the secret of how healthy bodies fight the invasion of malignant cells.” The hospital administration attempted to keep the study away from public knowledge, but Southam was eventually placed on probation by the New York medical licensing board.

          Despite this, he later earned the title of Vice President of the American Cancer Society. The Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital in Brooklyn faced allegations of conducting unauthorized experiments, which entailed injecting cancer cells into noncancerous patients. Hospital director William A. Hyman brought the issue to court, seeking access to medical records. Memorial Sloan‐Kettering Cancer Center disclosed that the experiments aimed to understand cancer patients' immune mechanisms.

          The experiments involved injecting cultured human cancer cells into volunteer patients with advanced chronic diseases. Despite opposition, Hyman pursued the case, claiming patients were unaware of the experiments' nature. Hospital executive director Solomon Siegel defended the experiments, stating patients were informed only of receiving cells to test their resistance to cancer.

          Investigations by the Brooklyn District Attorney's office and the State Board of Education ensued. The victims of the unauthorized research were violated in ways no person should endure. The public disagreed with Southam’s actions and expressed criticism of how he mistreated the defenseless inpatients at the hospital. Critics even compared his actions to those of Nazi physicians, which is an extreme statement. Those who are in hospitals and institutions are highly vulnerable and in need of protection from unethical treatment and experimentation.

          It is likely that the ones who conduct research and experiments strategically target these groups of people because they are already trapped in a place that is under strict surveillance. It can be argued that there is little justification for using patients who are being treated in a hospital for the purposes of medical research by injecting them with something they may react very poorly to.

          Going forward, it is fair to conclude that protecting patients and providing them with the proper treatment and care they need in order to recover should be a standard expectation in all hospitals. Abuse and taking advantage of any kind of power has no place in a medical environment.

 

Sources 

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The New York Times. (1964, January 21). Hospital accused on cancer study; live cells given to patients without their consent, director tells Court; allegation is denied; chronic disease institution defends action-value of tests is praised. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1964/01/21/archives/hospital-accused-on-cancer-study-live-cells-given-to-patients.html 

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Azuine​1DrPH, R. E., Ekejiuba1DVM, S. E., SB, H., SR, C., WS, B., DG, G., TB, N., Medicine, N. L. of, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, EJ, E., RA, C., JD, A., JD, M., C, G., HM, S., RE, W., LM, K., PJ, M., VE, W., … MA, A. (2015, January 15). Overcoming challenges in conducting clinical trials in minority populations: Identifying and testing what works. International Journal of Maternal and Child Health and AIDS. 

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https://mchandaids.org/overcoming-challenges-in-conducting-clinical-trials-in-minority-populations-identifying-and-testing-what-works/ 

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Slideshare. (2013, April 6). Unethical human experimentation in the United States - Wiki. SlideShare. https://www.slideshare.net/necrotonic90/unethical-human-experimentation-in-the-united-states 

Arras, J. D. (2008, April 18). The jewish chronic disease hospital case. OUP Academic. https://academic.oup.com/book/54519/chapter-abstract/422591139?redirectedFrom=fulltext