By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America – A lawsuit filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court seeks $1 billion in damages from defendant Johns Hopkins University for its alleged role in the deliberate infection of hundreds of Guatemalans with syphilis, gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), during a government medical experiment program in the 1940s and 1950s.
The lawsuit, which also names the philanthropic Rockefeller Foundation, alleges that both institutions helped design, support, and finance the experiments by employing scientists and physicians. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, researchers initially infected Guatemalan sex workers in order to research the spread of STDs and then ascertain if penicillin could prevent the diseases. Later the experiment extended to orphans, prisoners and mental health patients.
The experiments were kept secret until they were discovered in 2010 by a college professor, Susan Reverby. The then secretary of state, Hillary Clinton apologized for the program after a presidential bioethics commissions found the experiments “involved unconscionable basic violations of ethics.” Ultimately, the program published no findings and did not inform the Guatemalans of the consequences of the infection, and they were also not provided with the necessary follow up medical care to inform them of ways to prevent the infections from spreading.
A federal lawsuit for damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act failed in 2012 after a judge determined that the United States Government could not be held liable for actions outside the United States. Lawyers for the victims believe that the new lawsuit stands a a greater chance for success as it is against private entities.
For more information, please see the following:
AL JAZEERA – Johns Hopkins Sued Over STD Study in Guatemala – 1 April 2015.
FOX NEWS – Johns Hopkins Sued For $1B Over Guatemala Venereal Disease Study – 3 April 2015.
THE GUARDIAN – Guatemalans Deliberately Infected With STDs Sue Johns Hopkins University for $1bn – 2 April 2015.
WASHINGTON POST – Johns Hopkins Faces $1 Billion Lawsuit For Role In STD Study in Guatemala – 1 April 2015.
