More than 30 children in Irish childcare facilities were subjected to illegal clinical experiments in the XNUMXs – testing them for a diphtheria vaccine, researchers at Cork University found.
Tests were carried out in the years 1930-1936. They were commissioned by the pharmaceutical company Burroughs Wellcome, which later became part of the GSK concern. The preserved documentation shows that the vaccines were tested on 2051 children from orphanages, schools and homes for single mothers run by religious orders.
However, there is no data on how many of them died or suffered from side effects.
“If that’s true, then of course very unpleasant.” We have to wait for the investigation to find out what actually happened. However, I can assure you that our research is now carried out to the highest scientific and ethical standards, said a GSK spokesman.
Michael Dwyer, a historian at Cork University, found the archival documents on the research.
– What I found in the archives is just the tip of the iceberg. Reports on experiments on children were published in the most prestigious medical journals. This shows that similar practices were widely accepted in the medical community, says Dwyer.
A few days earlier, Irish public opinion was shocked by the discovery of around 800 skeletons of newborns and toddlers in the waste tank of a religious home for unmarried mothers with children in the city of Tuam.
Based on: Daily Mail / MojaWyspa
Text: Tomasz Kobosz