Government conducted flu experiments in 1940s at York Township psychiatric hospital, investigation finds

Posted on Tue, Mar 1, 2011 : 12:33 p.m.

Government conducted flu experiments in 1940s at York Township psychiatric hospital, investigation finds

By Cindy Heflin

An architect's rendering of the Ypsilanti State Hospital.

From Ypsilanti State Hospital Annual Report to the Department of Mental Health

A federally funded study in 1942 injected experimental flu vaccine into male patients at a state mental hospital in York Township, then exposed them to flu several months later, The Associated Press reports after a lengthy review of documents.

The facility is now the site of the Toyota Technical Center.

Information about the flu experiments at the former mental hospital is part of a lengthy article from The Associated Press detailing government experiments on disabled people and prison inmates. The article said experiments included exposing patients to hepatitis and pandemic flu and cancer cells.

The study at the Ypsilanti Psychiatric Hospital was co-authored by Jonas Salk, eventual inventor of the polio vaccine, the AP reported.

Read the AP report in the Evansville Courier-Press.

Comments

Dennis

Fri, Mar 4, 2011 : 4:12 p.m.

google Ypsilanti State Hospital and view the pictures.....that's not the only thing they did there

jcj

Wed, Mar 2, 2011 : 2:46 p.m.

@Cash My point is only this IF this had happened during a republican presidency there would be a certain poster here saying it happened BECAUSE republicans were in the white house! And I am surprised he hasn't blamed Reagan for this! Just so you know I am very familiar with how patients are/were treated at these institutions because I remember visiting a relative for the first time when I was five that was institutionalized all her life. That was in the thumb but she was also in Ypsi later. I did volunteer work at Ypsi State Hospital in the 70's had relatives that worked there besides a relative that was institutionalized there. I missed the long story you mentioned.

Cash

Wed, Mar 2, 2011 : 11:50 a.m.

jcj, Did you read the article? "Some of these studies, mostly from the 1940s to the '60s, apparently were never covered by news media. Others were reported at the time, but the focus was on the promise of enduring new cures, while glossing over how test subjects were treated."

jcj

Wed, Mar 2, 2011 : 4:08 a.m.

"A federally funded study in 1942 injected experimental flu vaccine into male patients at a state mental hospital in York Township, then exposed them to flu several months later" And I thought only a republican President would allow something like that! They must have the dates wrong. This must have happened during the Nixon or Reagan presidency.

David Briegel

Wed, Mar 2, 2011 : 1:59 a.m.

It's a good thing that this happened in "civilized, Christian America". Imagine the outrage if it happened in a Communist or Muslim nation! But, don't ever let reality get in the way of American Exceptionalism!! And yes, imagine the outrage if we treated animals in such a manner. And don't ever forget that the "criminally insane" are now on the streets living amongst us because we no longer fund any meaningful mental health care in civilized America!

Cash

Wed, Mar 2, 2011 : 1:13 a.m.

Just imagine how many posts would be here if this was animal abuse instead of human being abuse.

John B.

Wed, Mar 2, 2011 : 12:30 a.m.

It saddens me to see that Jonas Salk was involved in this, but I'm not surprised that the 'experiment' took place.

FattyJ

Tue, Mar 1, 2011 : 9:21 p.m.

Moral of the story....Our government doesn't need to play by the laws of the land like we, the taxpayers, must. Covering these scandals up is too easy. Why do some people believe that they need more power?

Edward Vielmetti

Tue, Mar 1, 2011 : 7:30 p.m.

The contemporary report of this is the New York Times, 1944: <a href="http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10614FE395510718EDDA90A94D0405B8488F1D3" rel='nofollow'>http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10614FE395510718EDDA90A94D0405B8488F1D3</a> Influenza Tests Made for Army Reveal Vaccine Controls Types A and B for Several Months By WALDEMAR KAEMPFFERT (); August 20, 1944, "After a series of studies which began in December, 1942, continued through to April, 1943, and concluded during an influenza epidemic in January, 1944, a Commission on Influenza announces that two common types of influenza known as "A" and "B" can be controlled by vaccines." -- The whole Times story is available via the Ann Arbor District Library.

Cash

Tue, Mar 1, 2011 : 6:58 p.m.

M Live ran a long version of this story Sunday. Sickening.

grye

Tue, Mar 1, 2011 : 6:48 p.m.

The key line is the entire story is the sense of sacrifice for the nation. What may have been deemed acceptable within a small select group then would be immediately outed today.