Cincinnati Radiation Experiments

The Cincinnati Radiation Experiments were a series of total and partial body irradiation tests performed on at least 90 patients with advanced cancer at the Cincinnati General Hospital, now University of Cincinnati Hospital, from 1960 to 1971. Led by radiologist Eugene L. Saenger, the experiments were funded in part by the Defense Atomic Support Agency within the Department of Defense to study how soldiers in nuclear war would be affected by large doses of radiation. The experiments were conducted without patient consent in the first five years of the study and with disputed levels of consent thereafter. The irradiated patients experienced nausea, vomiting, cognitive impairment, and death. Twenty one patients died within one month. The contract between the researchers and the DOD terminated in 1972 under pressure from Senator Edward Kennedy, marking the end of major human irradiation experimentation in the U.S. that began after World War II and continued throughout the Cold War Era.

Although initially fading from public eye, the controversy resurfaced in 1993 and was soon investigated by President Bill Clinton's Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments. In 1994, families of the patients filed a class-action lawsuit against the team of 15 researchers. Five years later, the University of Cincinnati settled the case for over $4 million.