Prompt Cast
The Dark History of Prisoner Experiments in America
TLDR In the 1960s and 1970s, prisoners in America were used as test subjects for various experiments, including the testing of pharmaceuticals and cosmetic products. These unethical experiments led to permanent injuries and sparked public outrage, resulting in new rules and restrictions on prisoner experiments.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
SIG, a college graduate in the 50s, stumbled into the world of medical research and unknowingly became a part of a national scandal.
04:06
SIG, a recent college graduate, unknowingly takes a job in a prison laboratory where scientists are experimenting on prisoners with pharmaceuticals and commercial cosmetic products.
09:02
Prisoners were used as test subjects for antiperspirant and athlete's foot treatments, with the prisoners being paid for their participation and believing there was little risk involved, until a prisoner had a bad reaction to one of the products being tested.
13:14
Prisoners were used as test subjects for various experiments, including hair cream and patch tests, with some experiencing adverse reactions such as hair loss, blisters, and scarring, while their supervisors and the renowned dermatologist Dr. Albert Kligman dismissed their concerns.
17:36
In the 1960s, experiments on prisoners became routine across America, with hundreds of experiments taking place in prisons all over the country, as prisoners were seen as an obvious choice for human test subjects when new rules were brought in to make drugs safer.
22:00
By the early 1970s, the majority of phase one drug testing was being done on prisoners, including by major pharmaceutical companies and government organizations, and while some prisoners experienced permanent injuries, the public didn't seem too concerned until news broke about the unethical Tuskegee syphilis experiment and other shady studies.
25:58
Pharmaceutical companies argued that they needed prisoners for scientific advancement, and while some prisoners were upset about the experiments, many actually wanted them to continue due to the money and better treatment they received, leading to the creation of new rules and restrictions on prisoner experiments.
29:55
Prisoner experiments involved infecting prisoners with diseases like cholera, malaria, and hepatitis, and even withholding vitamin C to induce scurvy, leading to outrage and a reevaluation of the ethics of such experiments.
