Dangerous Medicine

Dangerous Medicine by Sydney A. Halpern reveals the untold history of America's mid-twentieth-century programme of hepatitis infection research, detailing its scientists' aspirations and the harm caused to human subjects.

From 1942 through 1972, American biomedical researchers deliberately infected people with hepatitis. Government-sponsored researchers sought to uncover the fundamental characteristics of the disease and the viruses responsible for it, while developing interventions to prevent recurring outbreaks. Drawing from extensive archival research and in-person interviews, Halpern traces the hepatitis programme from its origins in World War II, through its growth during the early Cold War years, to its conclusion in the early 1970s amid public outcry over research abuse.

The subjects of these hepatitis studies belonged to stigmatised groups—conscientious objectors, prison inmates, and developmentally disabled adults and children. The book reveals how researchers used military and scientific imperatives and the rhetoric of the common good to gain support for the experiments and access to potential recruits. Halpern examines the consequences of participation on subjects’ long-term health and raises troubling questions about dangerous human experiments designed to control today’s epidemic diseases.