Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Israeli media: Israeli commando forces conduct airdrops in two locations in the Damascus countryside.
Israeli media platform: Israeli army forces carry out a commando operation in the al-Kiswah area of the Damascus countryside.
Syrian media outlets: Israeli helicopters flying at low altitude over Tal Mani in the Damascus countryside.
Israeli media platform: Israeli aircraft bomb Syrian bases simultaneously with tanks entering the southern outskirts of Damascus.
Israeli media: Israeli forces infiltrated the town of Beit Jann south of Damascus, and a new airstrike hit al-Kiswah.
Syrian media: Four Israeli helicopters have touched down in the southern city of Sweida.
UN Security Council member states, excluding the United States, confirm that there is a famine in Gaza.
Syrian media: The Israeli occupation forces launch a series of airstrikes in the western Damascus countryside.
Al Mayadeen correspondent: 51 people martyred in Israeli aggression on Gaza since Wednesday morning.
Saree: Yemen will not abandon its stance in support of Gaza no matter the challenges and repercussions until the blockade imposed on the territory is lifted and the aggression it is facing is halted.

UCSF doctors subjected prisoners to pesticides, herbicides, mosquitoes

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 28 Dec 2022 21:25
  • 4 Shares
3 Min Read

A report published by the University of California San Francisco shows that dermatologists performed unethical experiments on prisoners.

  • x
  • This picture taken on June 25, 1945, shows army doctors exposing convicts to malaria-carrying mosquitoes in the malaria ward at Stateville Penitentiary in Crest Hill, Ill (AP Photo)
    This picture taken on June 25, 1945, shows army doctors exposing convicts to malaria-carrying mosquitoes in the malaria ward at Stateville Penitentiary in Crest Hill, Ill (AP Photo)

An internal investigation conducted by the University of California San Francisco found that experiments performed on incarcerated people at a Bay Area prison by 2 faculty members between the 1960s and 1970s were abusive and unethical. 

The faculty members - who were dermatologists at the university - experimented on a minimum of 2,600 people incarcerated at the California Medical Facility, which is a prison hospital in Vacaville. According to the report, there doesn't seem to be consent from the UCSF committee to conduct such experiments on humans. 

Dr. Howard Maibach and Dr. William Epstein performed experiments on their human subjects - however the report in question found that there were no records of informed consent by the research subjects. 

But that was not the worst of it all: The researchers used topical and intravenous methods of dosing pesticides and herbicides on the prisoners, placing small cages filled with mosquitos in exteme proximity to the human subjects' arms to observe the "host attractiveness of humans to mosquitoes." 

Related News

Former Biden security advisor backs pausing arms sales to 'Israel'

Gold steady before Fed data; oil dips amid US-India trade tensions

The mosquito cages were also placed directly on the skin, which gave researchers insight into how the mosquitoes bit the subject. 

The people in question were paid $30 a month to participate in the medical experiments - the medical experimentation jobs were among the best jobs available at the prison and were in high demand according to the UCSF Synapse, which is the university's student newspaper, written in 1977. 

Maibach, who still practices at the UCSF Dermatology Clinic at Mount Zion, commented on the report: “What I believe to be ethical as a matter of course forty or fifty years ago is not considered ethical today. I regret having participated in research that did not comply with contemporary standards.”

He argued that the research helped advance science, and “I do not recall in any way in which the studies caused medical harm to the participants.”

UCSF Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Dr. Dan Lowenstein released a statement saying: “UCSF apologizes for its explicit role in the harm caused to the subjects, their families, and our community by facilitating this research, and acknowledges the institution’s implicit role in perpetuating unethical treatment of vulnerable and underserved populations — regardless of the legal or perceptual standards of the time.”

  • United States

Most Read

Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025
Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks (Photo by Mahdi Rtail)

Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks

  • Politics
  • 26 Aug 2025
Launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen toward the occupied Palestinian territories. (YAF military media)

Yemeni Forces announce firing hypersonic missile at Al-Lydd Airport

  • Politics
  • 22 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Pope Leo XIV delivers the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Pope Leo demands Gaza ceasefire, prisoner exchange deal

Palestinians pray over the bodies of people who were killed in an Israeli military strike, during their funeral outside Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, Friday, August 22, 2025 (AP)
Politics

'Israel’s' 'double-tap' strike on Gaza hospital must be probed: UN

Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) 2020 Conference, Monday, March 2, 2020 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Politics

Ex-AIPAC-funded lawmakers back bill to halt US weapons to 'Israel'

A boat sails at sea near Nuuk, Greenland, Wednesday, June 18, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Denmark calls in US envoy over covert Trump-linked Greenland influence

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS