DISCLAIMER The following is a staff memorandum or other working document prepared for the members of the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments. It should not be construed as representing the final conclusions of fact or interpretation of the issues. All staff memoranda are subject to revision based on further information and analysis. For conclusions and recommendations of the Advisory Committee, readers are advised to consult the Final Report to be published in 1995. TAB E þþþDRAFTþ FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSESþþþ MEMORANDUM TO: Members of the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments FROM: Outreach Subcommittee DATE: September 2, 1994 RE: Cincinnati Panel and San Francisco Meeting CINCINNATI The Advisory Committee will hold its first small-panel hearing in Cincinnati on Oct. 21 in conjunction with a meeting of the Task Force on Radiation and Human Rights, an umbrella organization for subjects of experiments and their families. The purpose of the hearing is twofold: 1) to bring the Committee to those who cannot come to Washington or San Francisco, and 2) to gather information that might not otherwise be available to the Committee. While we expect to hear principally from families of subjects, researchers and other persons interested in Dr. Eugene Saenger's experiments (Dr. Saenger himself may also speak), the hearing was set to coincide with the task force meeting so that interested parties from other parts of the country might also have an opportunity to tell their stories. The hearing will be conducted in a manner similar to the public comment period at a full Advisory Committee meeting with one exception. While we will ask those who wish to comment to sign up in advance and provide written statements, we will also make available an open microphone so that those who have not signed up to speak will also have a chance to comment. Each speaker will be allotted a maximum of ten minutes followed by questions from the Panel. The Outreach Subcommittee recommends that the panel consist of a biomedical scientist with radiation expertise, an ethicist and a third member from one of the other disciplines represented on the Advisory Committee. We hope a decision on the panel's membership can be reached at the September meeting. The meeting will be transcribed and staffed as needed. The meeting will be held in a downtown hotel with good facilities for electronic news coverage. Based on the Congressional hearing on the Saenger experiments held in Cincinnati we expect a turnout of two to three hundred. Staff's early advance work indicates substantial interest on the part of both stakeholders and news media. The possibility of a meeting with the editorial board of the Cincinnati Enquirer is also being explored. 1 SAN FRANCISCO In light of the subcommittee's concern that there be enough time to accommodate all those interested in speaking at the San Francisco meeting, we recommend reserving at least six hours for public comment. We also recommend that the meeting begin with public comment to avoid a repetition of our experience at the July meeting in which we were squeezed for time at the end of the meeting. Furthermore, we recommend a format identical to the one suggested for the Cincinnati hearing in which an open microphone will be available so that speakers who have not signed up will have an opportunity to address the Committee and answer questions from the Committee. Staff will control access to the microphone and the time each person is allowed to speak. Speakers using the open microphone will be interspersed with those who have signed up to avoid favoritism or the appearance of favoritism. Steve Klaidman will be talking to Hanford interest groups and officials at a meeting in Spokane next week and he will be calling the University of California campuses to see if they wish to have anyone on the program. He is asking for comment on well- known experiments conducted at these universities and more general commentary on human subjects' research and research ethics. Steve is also exploring the possibility of Ruth and one or two other Advisory Committee members meeting on October 11 with the editorial boards of several Northern California newspapers (e.g., San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News). 2 c:\wpwin60\wpdocs\6briefin\cinnpan.wpd (tcs)