An internal investigation at the University of California San Francisco found that two medical researchers affiliated with the university had undertaken unethical experiments on inmates of a Bay Area prison in the 1960s and 1970s.
“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,” UCSF Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Dan Lowenstein said in an official statement of remorse released on December 20.
The controversial experiments in question were carried out by UCSF Dermatology Department faculty members Dr. Howard Maibach and Dr. William Epstein at the California Medical Facility, a state prison medical facility in Vacaville. Epstein died in 2006, while Maibach is still a faculty member at the university.
The experiments continued until 1977, when California outlawed using incarcerated people as human subjects in research.
The university investigated the experiments as part of its Program for Historical Reconciliation (PHR), which seeks to address concerns about UCSF’s history and institutional legacy, including unethical conduct in biomedical and clinical research.
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Investigators with the PHR examined over 7,000 archival documents, medical journal articles, interviews, documentaries, and books as part of the inquiry into potential unethical practices in the researchers’ work.
UCSF released its first report on the probe’s findings on December 20.
“Throughout his tenure at UCSF, Maibach experimented on at least 2,600 individuals who were incarcerated at CMF,” the report said.
“His research was nontherapeutic, meaning incarcerated individuals were not suffering from any diseases or conditions that the research was intended to treat. Research conducted ranged in invasiveness and purpose,” the report stated.
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According to the PHR, experiments the scientists conducted included injecting pesticides and herbicides into inmates, placing them in small cages with mosquitos to study the “host attractiveness of humans to mosquitos,” and direct observations of mosquito proboscises piercing human…
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