Saturday report on National Public Radio (NPR) on human radiation experiments in Cincinnati (fwd)

[Bernard L Cohen <blc+@pitt.edu>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 1997 12:11:07 -0500 (EST)
From: Bernard L Cohen <blc+@pitt.edu>
To: npr@npr.org
Subject: Saturday report on human radiation experiments in Cincinnati

	Your Saturday morning report on supposed radiation experiments on
human subjects under the direction of the highly respected scientist,
Eugene Saenger, in Cincinnati was completely one sided and highly
distorted. I would be happy to provide a detailed rebuttal, but the most
obvious distortion was your implication that Dept.of Defense (DOD) sponsored
research in which large radiation doses were given to human subjects to
obtain information on effects of radiation in nuclear warfare. That is not
true in any sense. These radiation doses were administered for entirely
different purposes of benefit to the recipients with their informed
consent, and with no support from DOD and no involvment of DOD in patient
selection and care. The program sposored by DOD was simply observation of
symptoms and signs and laboratory tests (eg on blood samples) on these
patients. The entire program was reviewed by two different Univ. of
Cincinnati faculty Committees, by an American College of Radiology
Investigative Committee set up by the U.S. Senate, by the U.S. General
Accounting Office, and by Congressional hearings. With all these sources
available, how could you base your report entirely on statements by a
person with no professional knowledge of the field? She obviously had a
political agenda, and you gave her lots of unrebutted air time to expound
on it.
	Incidently, the implication that there was no benefit to the
patients is wrong. About 30% had pain relief, 30% had decrease in tumor
size, and 30% experienced "improved well being". The procedures used in
those irradiations are still being used with higher doses for various
types of cancer.
	It seems to me that NPR should investigate stories of this type
more thoroughly before giving such a completely one-sided presentation.
Didn't it seem strange to your reporter that over a dozen doctors would
undertake the heinous work implied by your piece? It seems to me that NPR
has a moral obligation to present another piece giving the correct
information.    

Bernard L. Cohen
Physics Dept.
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Tel: (412)624-9245
Fax: (412)624-9163
e-mail: blc+@pitt.edu