singular_me
3rd April 2015, 03:39 AM
Another pandora box which coud be opened if the Guatemalans ever win the case?
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Johns Hopkins and Rockefeller Foundation lawsuit: Almost 800 sue after victims were unknowingly infected with syphilis in US Government experiment
Friday 3rd April 2015
Suit alleges U.S. government infected 800 Guatemalan human guinea pigs with syphilis and other STDs without their knowledge...
Almost 800 people have filed a $1 billion (£676 million) suit against the Johns Hopkins Hospital System Corp after hundreds were unwittingly infected with syphilis, gonorrhoea and other infections as part of study into sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) conducted by the US Government more than 65 years ago.
The former research subjects were infected in Guatemala as part of a study looking at ways of preventing STDs spreading. The law suit filed by the participants alleges that the university had “substantial influence” over the studies by controlling some panels that advised the federal government on how to spend research funds.
It claims that Johns Hopkins and the Rockefeller Foundation, which is also named as a defendant, “exercised control over, supervised, supported, encouraged, participated in and directed the course of the experiments”, according to the Associated Press.’...............
"They knew about it, they were architects of it, they planned it, they sought funding for it, they kept it under the radar. Hopkins provided syphilitic rabbits that were used to inject individuals with syphilis."
The suit alleges that experiments were carried out on women, soldiers and patients with mental health issues. The tests involved allowing participants to have sex with infected women or by using needles to open wounds that could be infected.
Children were also included in the study but not deliberately exposed to the diseases.
Some plaintiffs attempted to sue US government officials in 2011, but the case was thrown out on the basis that the Government could not be held accountable for what was committed in another country. It apologised to victims in 2010 for the “reprehensible research” conducted “under the guise of public health”.
Some plaintiffs attempted to sue US government officials in 2011, but the case was thrown out on the basis that the Government could not be held accountable for acts committed in another country.
In a statement, Johns Hopkins said: “Johns Hopkins did not initiate, pay for, direct or conduct the study in Guatemala. No non-profit university or hospital has ever been held liable for a study conducted by the US Government.
more
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/john-hopkins-lawsuit-nearly-800-sue-university-after-victims-were-unknowingly-infected-with-syphilis-in-us-government-experiment-10151758.html
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The plaintiffs’ essential claim in this case is that prominent Johns Hopkins faculty members’ participation on a government committee that reviewed funding applications was tantamount to conducting the research itself and that therefore Johns Hopkins should be held liable. Neither assertion is true.
A class action lawsuit seeking to hold federal officials responsible for the Guatemala study has been filed and dismissed. U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton dismissed that action in 2012 and stated that the pleas of victims for relief are more appropriately directed to the political branches of the federal government.
For more than half a century since the time of the Guatemala study, scholars, ethicists and clinicians have worked with government officials to establish rigorous ethical standards for human research. Johns Hopkins welcomes bioethical inquiry into the U.S. Government’s Guatemala study and its legacy. This lawsuit, however, is an attempt by plaintiffs’ counsel to exploit a historic tragedy for monetary gain. Plaintiffs’ legal claims are not supported by the facts.
We will vigorously defend the lawsuit.”
The experiment came to light in 2012, prompting President Obama to apologize for the research. Johns Hopkins University says it did not initiate, pay for, or conduct the experiment.
“Doctors who were employers of Johns Hopkins went to NIH and served on NIH study committees in their capacity on behalf of the federal government, but not on behalf of Johns Hopkins,” said Robert Mathias, lead counsel for Johns Hopkins.
Rob Mathias represents Hopkins, describing the suit with no merit and beyond its statute of limitations.
In 2012, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the U.S. government for the very same study.
The suit also names the Rockefeller Foundation and New York pharmaceutical company Bristol Meyers Squibb in the lawsuit.
http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2015/04/01/johns-hopkins-university-faces-1-billion-lawsuit/
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Johns Hopkins and Rockefeller Foundation lawsuit: Almost 800 sue after victims were unknowingly infected with syphilis in US Government experiment
Friday 3rd April 2015
Suit alleges U.S. government infected 800 Guatemalan human guinea pigs with syphilis and other STDs without their knowledge...
Almost 800 people have filed a $1 billion (£676 million) suit against the Johns Hopkins Hospital System Corp after hundreds were unwittingly infected with syphilis, gonorrhoea and other infections as part of study into sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) conducted by the US Government more than 65 years ago.
The former research subjects were infected in Guatemala as part of a study looking at ways of preventing STDs spreading. The law suit filed by the participants alleges that the university had “substantial influence” over the studies by controlling some panels that advised the federal government on how to spend research funds.
It claims that Johns Hopkins and the Rockefeller Foundation, which is also named as a defendant, “exercised control over, supervised, supported, encouraged, participated in and directed the course of the experiments”, according to the Associated Press.’...............
"They knew about it, they were architects of it, they planned it, they sought funding for it, they kept it under the radar. Hopkins provided syphilitic rabbits that were used to inject individuals with syphilis."
The suit alleges that experiments were carried out on women, soldiers and patients with mental health issues. The tests involved allowing participants to have sex with infected women or by using needles to open wounds that could be infected.
Children were also included in the study but not deliberately exposed to the diseases.
Some plaintiffs attempted to sue US government officials in 2011, but the case was thrown out on the basis that the Government could not be held accountable for what was committed in another country. It apologised to victims in 2010 for the “reprehensible research” conducted “under the guise of public health”.
Some plaintiffs attempted to sue US government officials in 2011, but the case was thrown out on the basis that the Government could not be held accountable for acts committed in another country.
In a statement, Johns Hopkins said: “Johns Hopkins did not initiate, pay for, direct or conduct the study in Guatemala. No non-profit university or hospital has ever been held liable for a study conducted by the US Government.
more
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/john-hopkins-lawsuit-nearly-800-sue-university-after-victims-were-unknowingly-infected-with-syphilis-in-us-government-experiment-10151758.html
---------------------------
The plaintiffs’ essential claim in this case is that prominent Johns Hopkins faculty members’ participation on a government committee that reviewed funding applications was tantamount to conducting the research itself and that therefore Johns Hopkins should be held liable. Neither assertion is true.
A class action lawsuit seeking to hold federal officials responsible for the Guatemala study has been filed and dismissed. U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton dismissed that action in 2012 and stated that the pleas of victims for relief are more appropriately directed to the political branches of the federal government.
For more than half a century since the time of the Guatemala study, scholars, ethicists and clinicians have worked with government officials to establish rigorous ethical standards for human research. Johns Hopkins welcomes bioethical inquiry into the U.S. Government’s Guatemala study and its legacy. This lawsuit, however, is an attempt by plaintiffs’ counsel to exploit a historic tragedy for monetary gain. Plaintiffs’ legal claims are not supported by the facts.
We will vigorously defend the lawsuit.”
The experiment came to light in 2012, prompting President Obama to apologize for the research. Johns Hopkins University says it did not initiate, pay for, or conduct the experiment.
“Doctors who were employers of Johns Hopkins went to NIH and served on NIH study committees in their capacity on behalf of the federal government, but not on behalf of Johns Hopkins,” said Robert Mathias, lead counsel for Johns Hopkins.
Rob Mathias represents Hopkins, describing the suit with no merit and beyond its statute of limitations.
In 2012, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the U.S. government for the very same study.
The suit also names the Rockefeller Foundation and New York pharmaceutical company Bristol Meyers Squibb in the lawsuit.
http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2015/04/01/johns-hopkins-university-faces-1-billion-lawsuit/