A federal judge in Baltimore, Maryland, said the Rockefeller Foundation, Johns Hopkins University and Bristol-Myers Squibb (a major drug manufacturer) will face a $ 1 billion lawsuit over their alleged involvement in a 1940s American government experiment. during which hundreds of Guatemalans were infected with syphilis in order to test whether sexually transmitted diseases could be treated with penicillin.
The lawsuit was filed back in 2018, but District Judge Marvin J. Garbis dismissed it, but suddenly the case was again set in motion. The families of the victims now need to "describe the events of the experiment, including how and when the experiments were carried out with the victims, and how this affected their spouses, children and grandchildren."
According to the plaintiffs, employees and board members of the aforementioned organizations, as well as a senior US surgeon, participated in the experiment. The victims of the experiment were mainly children from poor families, orphans, patients in psychiatric hospitals and prisoners.
The monstrous research remained under wraps until 2010, when Dr. Susan Reverby of Wellesley College in Massachusetts revealed the details of a government-funded experiment. As a result, President Barack Obama called the President of Guatemala and apologized.
Reverby learned of the experiments after the death of John Charles Cutler, the senior surgeon who was the lead researcher, and left behind a pile of documents detailing the barbaric experiments.
Meridian 361 International Law Group published a very graphic description of the experiments in a press release from the trial:
Researchers from these same organizations have participated in similar experiments elsewhere in the world, in particular the Taxigi experiments. They were almost identical to the experiments carried out in Guatemala, with the difference that they targeted African Americans from the poor.
Organizations accused of involvement in the experiments categorically deny everything and say they intend to fight the lawsuit.
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In a recent statement, Johns Hopkins University expressed “deep sympathy for individuals and families affected by the unfortunate 1940s syphilis study funded and conducted by the US government in Guatemala. We respect the lawsuit and will continue to vigorously defend against the claim.”
A Rockefeller Foundation spokesman told Reuters there was "no basis" for the claim and that they were not aware of such research at all.
Paul Beckman, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said his clients will continue to collect evidence, including documents from ten years ago.
