50 years after Philadelphia halted prison medical testing, families seek reparations

Legal Affairs Writer

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Fifty years ago, Philadelphia prison officials ended a medical testing program that had allowed a University of Pennsylvania researcher to conduct human testing on incarcerated people, many of them Black. Now, survivors of the program and their descendants want reparations. Families are set to seek reparations from the school and pharmaceutical companies at a Penn law school event Wednesday. Thousands of people at Holmesburg Prison were exposed to painful skin tests, anesthesia-free surgery, harmful radiation and mind-altering drugs. The research was for developing everything from hair dye, detergent and other household goods to chemical warfare agents. The University of Pennsylvania had no comment Wednesday on the push for reparations.