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More on Foster Kids as Guinea Pigs

May 2, 2005 permalink

On a New York radio program Amy Goodman interviewed a New York City councilman, a representative of the Alliance for Human Research Protection and the Commissioner of the Administration for Children's Services (ACS).

The number of children used in the tests, initially reported as 50, then 100, is now disclosed as over 465.

The law requires parental consent for this kind of trial. But for children in ACS care, the legal rights of "parent" vest in a bureaucrat. The bureaucrat is sure to follow the orders of his superior in preference to protecting his ward, so parental consent is a sham, as is brought out in the interview.

ACS Commissioner John Mattingly lost credibility with his answers. When asked for the true number of children involved in the tests, he gave a 321 word politician's answer without really shedding any new light on the question. More than a year after the scandal broke in the press, he was unable to name any of the pharmaceutical companies involved, though the BBC identified GlaxoSmithKline. He did not identify the drug involved in the tests, or the scientists.

The program Democracy Now has a transcript of the interview and a link to an audio "Segment" in real media format.

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