PAYOUT FOR INFAMOUS US EXPERIMENT
An infamous American case of doctors experimenting on orphans without their consent is close to settlement. The state of Iowa has agreed to pay US$925,000 to several people who were dragooned into a study on stuttering in 1939. The plaintiffs had sought $13.5 million.
The experiment, run by Dr Wendell Johnson, a pioneer of speech pathology, involved harassing and badgering children in the state- run Iowa Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home in an effort to turn them into stutterers. None did, but some became reluctant to speak or self- conscious. The experiment was kept secret for decades until it was exposed by the San Jose Mercury in 2001.
Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.
Latest posts by Michael Cook (see all)
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