Porton Down report shows unethical practices
Saturday 15 July 2006
Printable
EmailA REPORT published yesterday by the Ministry of Defence admitted that some trials of chemical agents on human volunteers at Porton Down from the 1940s to the 1970s involved "serious departures" from ethical standards.
But, the report's independent ethical assessor Professor Sir Ian Kennedy said that his concerns related to only a few of the thousands of tests done at the Wiltshire military laboratory between 1939 and 1989.
There was "no evidence to justify a conclusion that the conduct of the trials at any point went beyond the limits of what should ever be contemplated in a civilised society," he said.
Prof Kennedy oversaw the work of MoD officials conducting a historical survey of tests at Porton Down, which launched in 2000 in response to the concerns of veterans that they may have suffered lasting damage to their health.
In his conclusion, he raised concerns over tests in the 1950s involving the nerve agents VX and GD.
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