Overview
For more than two decades, from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s, inmates of Holmesburg Prison, Philadelphia, were used, in exchange for a few dollars, as guinea pigs in a host of medical experiments. Based on interviews with dozens of prisoners as well as doctors and prison officials who performed and enforced these experimental tests, this book paints a portrait of abuse, moral indifference and greed. Central to the account are the millions of dollars which many of America's leading drug and consumer-goods companies made available for doctors seeking fame and fortune through their medical experiments. Many of those doctors established their careers on the backs of the inmates who served as ideal test subjects - isolated, cheap, and locked behind bars. The author argues that at Holmesburg the American medical establishment betrayed the ideals of the Hippocratic Oath and the Nuremberg Code. An array of doctors, in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania and prison officials, established Holmesburg as a laboratory testing ground. Hundreds of prisoners were used to test products from facial creams and skin moisturizers to perfumes, detergents and anti-rash treatments. Other experiments used the inmates as test subjects for far more hazardous, even potentially lethal, substances such as radioactive isotopes, LSD and chemical-warfare agents.
Full Product Details
Author: Allen M. Hornblum
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint: Routledge
Edition: New edition
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 1.90cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.468kg
ISBN: 9780415923361
ISBN 10: 0415923360
Pages: 335
Publication Date: 12 April 1999
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
This admirably comprehensive story of the use of prisoners for medical research is embarrassingly painful to read... This encyclopedic, well-documented treatise....is a fascinating story<br>. <br>- Journal of the American Medical Association <br> Hornblum's book is awesome, revealing the sanctimonious venality of American medicine....Excellent! Highly recommended<br>. <br>- Choice <br> Admirably comprehensive story of the use of prisoners for medical research...Acres of Skin is the result of exhaustive scholarship...a comprehensive anthology of the use of prisoners for medical experimentation in other U.S. prisons and universities...This encylopedic, well-documented treatise is a fascinating story...Hornblum has recalled for all of us a history of abominable medical research and has given us all the opportunity to reflect on where we were when they experimented on prisoners and where we will be in the next ethical dilemma in medical science<br>. <br>- Journal of the American Medical Association <br> A recently released expose has sparked new interest in this controversial chapter of American medical history<br>. <br>- Village Voice <br> A startling new book<br>. <br>- Philadelphia Tribune <br>
Hornblum himself witnessed the reality of the large-scale testing of products on prisoners when he was running a creative writing course in a Philadelphia prison. Startled by the sight of men with their bodies covered in gauze pads and tape, he enquired further and learned that the men were participating in 'perfume tests' being run by the University of Pennsylvania, and that other local prisons were also running a wide variety of tests on prisoners. Hornblum discovered that many prisoners were being used as experimental guinea pigs, often for just a few dollars, and that this practice had become an accepted part of prison culture over nearly 20 years, having been initiated by Albert Kligman, an ambitious dermatologist in need of vast amounts of test material. Hornblum tells the story of Kligman and the many experiments he carried out as part of his own research, and for other bodies including the US Army. Many of the experiments were highly questionable and went far beyond his own speciality, and indeed his capabilities, involving as they did potentially lethal substances such as dioxin and radioactive isotopes. Prisoners were rarely informed of what was being tested, or what the effects were likely to be. Hornblum argues that they were not in a position to give consent and were in fact ruthlessly exploited. His book is based on extensive interviews with many of those involved and paints a bleak picture of ignorance, injury, greed and ambition. (Kirkus UK)
This admirably comprehensive story of the use of prisoners for medical research is embarrassingly painful to read... This encyclopedic, well-documented treatise....is a fascinating story. - Journal of the American Medical Association Hornblum's book is awesome, revealing the sanctimonious venality of American medicine....Excellent! Highly recommended. - Choice Admirably comprehensive story of the use of prisoners for medical research...Acres of Skin is the result of exhaustive scholarship...a comprehensive anthology of the use of prisoners for medical experimentation in other U.S. prisons and universities...This encylopedic, well-documented treatise is a fascinating story...Hornblum has recalled for all of us a history of abominable medical research and has given us all the opportunity to reflect on where we were when they experimented on prisoners and where we will be in the next ethical dilemma in medical science. - Journal of the American Medical Association A recently released expose has sparked new interest in this controversial chapter of American medical history. - Village Voice A startling new book. - Philadelphia Tribune
Author Information
Allen M. Hornblum teaches Urban Studies at Temple University. He has served on the Board of Trustees of the Philadelphia Prison System and as the Chief of Staff of Philadelphia's Sheriff's Office.
