IS THE CIA STILL CONDUCTING MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS ON UNSUSPECTING AMERICANS?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81M00980R000600030008-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 18, 2004
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: November 1, 1978
• Content Type: NSPR

Publ'
S'c'rutiny .
1 Novt78
The spectre of continuing CIA med-
ical experiments on humans, similar to,
those conducted on unsuspecting
American citizens 'in the 1950's and
1960's, was raised recently with the
inclusion of aCIA a in a bill au
thor nator Edward Kennedy,
establishing a permanent commission
charged with studying issues related to
the ethics of medical research.
'.'it boggles the mind to try and
comprehend what value a CIA ad-,
visor could be to a commission
charged with the furthering of moral
and ethical principles in the use of
humans-in medical research,"
stated Carleen Bridgeman, a regis-
tered nurse and executive director
of the Institute for.the Study of
Medical Ethics, a California pa-
tient's rights group.
"This is the agency which dispensed
LSD to persons without their knowl-
edge, conducted drug experiments on
prisoners. disguised' as legitimate
medical research, tested "knock-out"
drugs on advanced cancer patients,
and had as one of its purposes, to
"perfect the use of drugs for brain-
washing citizens, students, prisoners,
and subjects at random and to do it
surreptitiously," continued Ms.
Bridgeman. "We can only conclude
that such an advisor is included on this
committee because such medical ex-
perimentation is continuing and the
CIA advisor's job is to instruct the
committee what not to investigate:"
Bridgeman was not the only one to
come to such a conclusion. Roy Bran-
son, a senior research scholar at the
. Joseph and Rose Kennedy Institute for
-,.the Study of Human Reproduction and
Bioethics, in a letter concerning Ken-
nedy's bill (S. 2579), stated, "I am in-
trigued that your subcommittee. as- chemicals into sprays,- food, drinks,
sumes that the CIA will continue to . and aerosol cans that will either kill or
conduct experiments on humans, ' alter behavior.
making its necessary'for them to , ? To get control of an individual.to
have a non-voting, ex officio advisor the point where he will do our bidding
to the commission included in Sec.: against his will, even against such fun-
1081(d)." damental laws 'of nature as self-
Much of the information on the CIA's preservation.
role in medical research was obtained Such experiments were carried
through the Freedom. of Information out on numerous persons who had
Act and front testimony before 'the no idea they were being, ex
Senate Intelligence Committee in perimented on. 'At least 7,000 per
1975. It was revealed that between . sons were so treated by the Army.-'
1950 and 1971, acting under the au- alone. It was found that one Army
spices of more than .50 universities, biochemist, 'Dr. -Frank Olson,
hospitals and medical clinics, as well jumped to his death from a 10th
as the US Army, the. CIA conducted story window in New York City after
brainwashing and. experimentation. LSD was slipped into his drink by a
with LSD and other illegal drugs on CIA agent.
t~7i trio ?eiI mo 'Mba 1: cl y to ~ ~ I nt of D
f~ c mos cases the by the i and epartmert of Defense
subjects were, students, patients, sol
diers, and people from all'walks of life,
who were totally unaware that danger-
ous and possibly fatal experiments
were being conducted upon them.,
In 1975 the Senate Intelligence
Committee uncovered at least partial
data on some of the experiments con
ducted by and for the CIA. The purpose
of some of the experiments:
? To perfect the use of drugs for
-brainwashing citizens, students, pris-
oners and subjects at random and to do
.it surreptitiously.
*'To combine LSD with alcohol to
find the reactions of given subjects.
? To combine LSD with planted
electrodes to locate the centers of pain
in the brain.
? To figure out. ways to deliver
will probably never be known," said
Bridgeman, ';because in 1973 the-re-
search and methods under which it
was carried-out was recognized'to be
so potentially embarrassing that the,
then head of the CIA, Richard Helms,
ordered all-the files destroyed. Only, a
few that were overlooked have given
us this insight into the intelligence
community's idea of 'medical re-
search.'
"While the Institute does not
necessarily oppose a commission
to work toward informed consent
and, patients' protection as is pro-
posed by Senator Kennedy's bill, we
certainly would oppose the inclu-
sion of CIA representatives on such,
a commission and we do oppose the
fact that the committee hearings
and meetings will not be open to the
public. The American' public has a .
right to know what type of 'ex-
perimentation'-.the CIA and other
governmental -agencies are con-
ducting,. if only out of a sense of
self-protection," concluded' Ms.
Bridgeman. "We've been the vic-
tims too many times."
The Institute recently spearheaded a
successful drive for a California law
which defines the rights, of persons
used as subjects-in medical experi-
ments and establishes penaltiesfor the
violation, of informed. consent in med-
ical experiments. The Institute is cur-
rently investigating theluse of humans
in experimentation not.~covered by the
recently enacted law and intends to
work for protection for people in these
 25X1 Approved For Release 2004/05/21 : CIA-RDP81 M00980R000600030008-5
Approved For Release 2004/05/21 : CIA-RDP81 M00980R000600030008-5