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 J

            þþþDRAFT þ FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLYþþþ

MEMORANDUM

TO:       Members of the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation 
Experiments

FROM:     Advisory Committee Staff

DATE:     November 8, 1994

RE:       Background Materials on Mid-Century HHS Radiation Research 
          Activities



     The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is, and has 
been, the primary "civilian" sponsor of biomedical research.  In prior 
briefing books we noted that, following World War II the National 
Institutes of Health (NIH) inherited many of the research contracts of 
the Committee on Medical Research, the coordinator of World War II 
medical research.  In the 1949-52 period, representatives of the 
NIHand Public Health Service (PHS) participated in the DOD Joint Panel 
on the Medical Aspects of Atomic Warfare, at which human 
experimentation was debated and planned. In the ethics update section 
of this briefing book (Tab L) we note that the Atomic Energy 
Commission's (AEC's) Division of Biology and Medicine expressed some 
sentiment that military-related human experimentation be sponsored by 
HHS' predecessors.

     This tab provides documents that begin to give an overview of the 
mid-century radiological health and research efforts of HHS' 
predecessors, and the relation of this radiation research to Cold War 
military efforts.  The documents, which were obtained from HHS and 
from the National Archives, include:


Attachment 1:  A July 21, 1950  letter from President Truman to the 
               Administrator of the Federal Security Agency (FSA, 
               HHS's mid-century  predecessor)

     The President asked the Administrator to reexamine FSA programs, 
and "give first priority to those activities which contribute directly 
to national defense, including requests of other agencies for 
assistance."


Attachment 2:  An August 24, 1950 Memorandum from Dr. Dyer, Director 
               of NIH, to the Directors of the NIH Institutes






     Dr. Dyer's memorandum attaches a memorandum to President Truman 
on the "need for support of medical research in defense plans."



Attachment 3:  Excerpts from a March 14, 1952 report on "Defense 
               Activities of the Federal Security Agency"

     The report notes that "[b]oth the Atomic Energy Commission and 
the Department of Defense have called on the Public Health Service to 
use its research staff and to enlist the help of universities and 
medical schools in the study of radiation problems.  These studies aim 
to determine precisely how ionizing radiation damages the body, and 
how much radiation human beings can stand in one dose or repeated 
doses and still be able to fight."


Attachment 4:  A May 13, 1952 report on "Defense Activity of the 
               National Institutes of Health" (1950-1952)

     The section on "Radiation Research" (pages 30-31) notes, among 
other things:

          "A second major activity of the NIH relating to radiation 
          research has been participation in the medical and 
          biological aspects of atomic bomb tests.  A large share of 
          the expense  of this activity has been borne by the Armed 
          Forces Special Weapons Project.  The substance of this work 
          is classified."

     The extent to which HHS' predecessors participated in human 
experimentation and datagathering related to bomb tests remains to be 
more fully recovered.


Attachment 5:  Excerpts from a collection of  materials, apparently 
               prepared by PHS in about 1954, which outline the 
               history and nature of HHS radiation-related programs

     The materials include, among other things:

     ù    5-1:  A summary history of Radiation Health activities in 
          the period 1945-52;

     ù    5-2: A summary of the 1953-54 Radiological Health programs; 

The section on "Military Applications" notes that:






          "The Atomic Energy Commission is on public record that the 
          fall-out from tests, to date, has not resulted in 
          significant health exposures.  This belief is not fully 
          concurred in by others who question the measurement and 
          evaluation methods used by the Commission to study fall-out.  
          Within the Commission and its contractor group, there are 
          differences of opinion at the technical level."

     ù    5-3:  A March, 1947 document entitled "Joint Statement of 
          Public Health Service Personnel who had Experience with 
          Crossroads," which summarizes the experience of PHS staff 
          who served at the first peacetime atomic bomb tests;

     ù    5-4:  A March 1947 document entitled  "A Plan for 
          Radiological Health Activities";

     ù    5-5:  An October 14, 1947 listing of radiation-related 
          committee memberships;

     ù    5-6:  1949 documents relating to a Memorandum of 
          Understanding between the AEC and the PHS regarding the 
          roles to be played by the agencies in matters relating to 
          ionizing radiation;

     ù    5-7:  1950 documents relating to environmental radiation 
          research to be conducted by the PHS with the AEC at Oak 
          Ridge, Savannah River, and Hanford;

     ù    5-8:  A December 10, 1951 letter in which Shields Warren, 
          head of the AEC's Division of Biology and Medicine, invites 
          the Surgeon General, PHS, to appoint a member to an 
          interagency committee to plan the biomedical components of 
          atomic tests;

     ù    5-9:  A 1952 document recording the "Findings and 
          Recommendations from the First Meeting of a Group to 
          Consider Radiobiological Activities in the Public Health 
          Service"; and

     ù    5-10:  A 1952 document entitled "Notes on P.H.S. Interagency 
          Relationships in the Field of Radiobiology" which summarizes 
          relationships with, among others, DOD and AEC entities.


Attachment 6:  A July 5, 1952 document entitled "Highlights of Public 
               Health Service Activities in Radiological Health since 
               the JCAE [Joint Committee on Atomic Energy] Fallout 
               Hearings, May 4-8, 1949"







Attachments






Attachment 1

A July 21, 1950 Letter from President Truman to the Administrator of 
the Federal Security Agency





Attachment 2

An August 24, 1950 Memorandum from Dr. Dyer, Director of NIH, to the 
Directors of the NIH Institutes





Attachment 3

Excerpts from a March 14, 1952 Report on "Defense Activities of the 
Federal Security Agency."





Attachment 4

A May 13, 1952 Report on "Defense Activity of the
National Institutes of Health"






Attachment 5

Excerpts From a Collection of PHS Materials






Attachment 6

A July 5, 1952 Document Entitled "Highlights of Public Health Service 
Activities in Radiological Health since the JCAE Fallout Hearings, May 
4-8, 1959."