Alleged misconduct

The
Department of Defense is investigating whether 80 wounded US service members in
Iraq were used improperly as test subjects for a treatment for brain injuries.

The
study, sponsored by San Diego’s United States Naval Medical Centre, was designed to test whether
a drug designed for treating Tylenol overdoses could also be used to reduce the
harmful effects of traumatic brain injury, such as brain function problems and
balance loss. It is not clear whether anyone was hurt as a result of
administration of the drug. The US Navy is also conducting an inquiry into both
alleged research misconduct and potential violations to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. All research has been frozen
for the time being.

The
delay has incensed Congressman Patrick Kennedy, a Rhode Island Democrat, who
has been briefed privately on the study. He said the preliminary results
suggest the treatment could be helpful. “The irony is that the safeguards [to
protect human test subjects] are blocking, it seems to me, the quick
implementation of an intervention that could help mitigate the disabilities
that result from the signature wound of the war,’’ said Kennedy. Kennedy is
urging the Department of Defense to release the study or arrange for its review
by a panel of neuroscientists who can judge whether the findings warrant
further investigation. ~ Boston Globe, Aug 3

Jared Yee

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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