O'Leary apologizes for Plutonium Tests

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@ix.netcom.com>]

This article discusses O'Leary's "apologizing", words to the effect 
that one or more individuals "died" from the plutonium injection, 
etc. This doesn't seem to fit with the previous discussions recently 
that there was no evidence of any ill effects.
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ROCHESTER, N.Y.  - Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary  
Monday offered her apologies in person to the families of 12 
victims of the government's secret radiation tests during the 
Cold War era. 
  ``There's not enough that can be done to retrench or to  
remove the pain that a family member has felt once they have 
understood what happened to their relatives,'' she told the 
families of the victims in Rochester, New York. ``So no, I can't make
that right, but our behavior going forward may make that right.'' 
  O'Leary met privately with the families at a Rochester hotel  
before making her public remarks. 
  In November, the U.S. government agreed to a $4.8 million  
settlement with the dozen families whose relatives were injured 
by the government in the radiation tests. 
  All but one of the victims were injected with plutonium  
wihtout their consent in experiments coordinated at the 
University of Rochester hospital to test the potential effects 
of nuclear fallout. 
  ``Are the families totally satisfied? I think a little of  
the pain has eased, but I don't think it will ever replace loved
ones,'' said Gordon Hehir, whose wife's grandfather died from a
plutonium injection. He had checked into the hospital for treatment of
an ulcer. 
  One of the victims, Mary Jean Connell, is still alive. The  
elderly Connell attended Monday's meeting. 
  Also Monday, lawyers said there were at least three dozen  
other victims from the upstate New York area who were injected 
with plutonium or uranium in the 1940s. 
  A number of other cases of radiation victims are still  
pending around the country. 

Sandy Perle
Director, Technical Operations
ICN Dosimetry Division
Office: (800) 548-5100 Ext. 2306 
Fax: (714) 668-3149

E-Mail: sandyfl@ix.netcom.com    

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