TAB E DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY MEMORANDUM TO: Members of the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments FROM: Advisory Committee Staff DATE: May 19, 1995 RE: Knoxville Outreach Meeting Report The following is a summary report for the Advisory Committee about the Knoxville panel meeting. Advisory Committee members Nancy Oleinick and Henry Royal and members of the staff held the fourth and final small panel meeting in Knoxville, Tennessee, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 2, 1995, in the Summit Hill Ballroom of the Radisson Summit Hill. Staff members attending included Steve Klaidman, Kristin Crotty, John Kruger, No‰l Theodosiou, Katherine Taylor, Jerry Garcia, Jeanne Kepper and Lanny Keller. Some 40 persons made statements about a range of subjects of interest to the Advisory Committee. There were a number of active or retired Oak Ridge scientists and medical personnel making presentations at the meeting, with applause greeting statements both critical and supportive of the facility. The meeting was the subject of considerable press coverage in the area. Following is a summary of the subjects covered at the meeting: Vanderbilt experiments A number of women or survivors of women who were subjects of the Vanderbilt nutrition studies said they were not informed of their participation in the studies. Several subjects ascribed health problems of their children to exposures to radioactive iron used in the studies. Mary Hamm of Goodletsville, Tennessee, said that mothers without much money went to the prenatal clinic for the best possible care, and that when respected doctors told them to drink liquids, they did so. She and others said there was no specific explanation about the experimental nature of the work. Several witnesses asked for full disclosure of records and medical followup care for subjects and their families. Vanderbilt University was invited to participate in the meeting but declined, and submitted a written statement instead. Total-body irradiation Several witnesses were family members of subjects of 1950s or early 1960s TBI work at Oak Ridge Institute for Nuclear Studies (ORINS), and said their family members were brutalized by the experience. The family of Woodrow W. Litton said the very limited consent form signed did not include adequate information about five years of treatments. In addition, Brenda Lee testified that she was referred to ORINS for a tumor scan, but believes she received other treatments about which she was not informed and for which she signed no consent forms. However, several other witnesses praised the ORINS for treatments and care given their family members. Richard Sheldon of Knoxville recounted his mid-1960s treatment for Hodgkins' disease, and others from that period talked about the extensive information provided to patients. Several ORINS or Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) retired and active staff described substantial efforts to brief patients. Shirley Fry, assistant director of the ORINS Medical Sciences Division (who headed the search for documents under the Department of Energy's Office for Human Radiation Experiments) gave the Committee a 1950 policy booklet stating the rights of patients. She and other speakers said that the medical program never participated in any classified programs and its work was widely published in professional journals. Dick Smyser, founding editor of The Oak Ridger newspaper, noted that the experimental nature of ORINS treatments was widely covered in the press. Freda Jo Burchfield of Morristown, Tennessee, said her late son was delighted that measurements from his TBI treatment in the mid-1960s would be made available to NASA and contribute to the space program. Ann Sipe, a former nurse at ORINS, said the patients were educated about the nature of the disease and its treatment. Dr. Frank Comas of Knoxville discussed the treatment of radiosensitive tumors with TBI. Oak Ridge workers Several workers or survivors of workers criticized the exposures received by workers from the facilities at Oak Ridge. Floyd Rizzell, an early X-10 plant worker, said dosimeters frequently did not work and that workers were given little or no information about the dangers involved; if not guinea pigs, we were expendable, he said. A survivor of a 1958 criticality accident described the extensive monitoring of himself and his fellows, whom, he said, were given a small settlement but were only monitored and not treated for subsequent health problems. Union representatives cited documents released by the Advisory Committee to support their argument that workers have consistently been misled about health hazards. Oak Ridge National Laboratory Karl Z. Morgan presented testimony on his efforts and those of other health physicists at the national lab to determine what effects different types of radiation would have on workers at the various Oak Ridge plants. He described methods used to calculate safe dose levels and standards. Two veterans of ORNL/ORAU urged the Committee to follow up with the old-timers at the facility. Bill Bibb, who retired as assistant manager for defense programs at Oak Ridge, was previously at the Division of Biology and Medicine. He said, other than the inevitable transition period between AEC and the Manhattan Project, that all experimentation was exhaustively reviewed and met all medical standards of the time. Bill Burr, who was chair of ORAU, said the focus of the Oak Ridge medical work was on cancer treatments, and that ORINS work was consistent with AEC policies and the Nuremberg Code. Cincinnati Experiments Doris Baker of Cincinnati appeared on behalf of families of experiment subjects, calling for justice to be done. The Cincinnati experiments were also discussed by Dr. Frank Comas of Knoxville, a former ORAU researcher, in answer to a question from Dr. Royal. Dr. Comas told the Committee that he did not recall much discussion about the discontinuation of experimental treatment aimed at radioresistant tumors. He said there were very brief discussions about negative results, "nobody thought it was a good idea and that was the end of it." Other Residents in the Oak Ridge Area Other residents of the Oak Ridge area testified that they were (and recently have been) refused medical care by physicians in the area when it was determined that their ailments were the result of chronic radiation exposure. Janice Stokes of Clinton, Tennessee, referred to a secret order No. 0521, which she said directed physicians not to treat or publicize such conditions. Several of those who testified said doctors who had tried to speak out were either harassed into silence or were forced to leave the area. Uranium Mill Workers Gary Madsen of Utah State University discussed the increased anxiety caused by the health problems experienced by uranium mill workers, as well as the differences between Caucasian and American Indian workers. Dr. Madsen recommended that epidemiological studies be updated to include American Indians and smoking data, and that medical screening be provided. Others Betty Freels and Mary Bunch of Clinton, Tennessee, addressed the Committee. Mrs. Freels ascribed her health problems to exposure at birth during the 1956 Operation Peppermint and subsequent exposure to hazardous waste at Oak Ridge. Mrs. Bunch described her health problems after radium treatment for nasopharyngeal problems.