THE US GOVERNMENT should apologize to hundreds of citizens who were used in ionizing radiation experiments conducted from the 1940s into the 1970s—often without their consent or even their knowledge. The government should also compensate those who were harmed by the experiments, or their survivors.
These are the recommendations the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments has made in its final report, which is due to be released.
The committee, which was established by an executive order of President Clinton in January 1994, was charged with investigating the ethical and scientific aspects of human radiation experiments carried out or sponsored by the US government.
Find the Answers
According to Stephen Klaidman, counselor to the committee and director of communications, the committee was charged with finding answers to several questions, including what ethical criteria should be used to evaluate human radiation experiments, what was the federal government's role in past human