Historical event: The Trials of Nina McCall

[MaeZe]

CSPAN Book TV yesterday: The Trials of Nina McCall

This is a newly released book and the story was mind-boggling. Ever heard of "The American Plan"?

During World War I, in colonial Philippines, US armed forces developed a prostitute management program called the "American Plan" which enabled the military to arrest any women within five miles of a military cantonment. If found infected, a woman could be sentenced to a hospital or a farm colony until cured.[79]

Beginning in the 1910s and continuing in some places into the 1950s, the American Plan operated in the United States. Women were told to report to a health officer where they were coerced to submit to an invasive examination. Immigrants, minorities and the poor were primarily targeted.[80]

Back to the book and Nina McCall:

Scott Stern recounted a U.S. government program that was devised to quarantine women suspected of having venereal diseases or deemed “promiscuous” during the first half of the 20th century. The author reported that the program, commonly known as the “American Plan,” was responsible for the imprisonment of thousands of women, against their will and many without due process.

Mostly women, poor and powerless, often ethnic minorities, and only a rare man were imprisoned. They were subjected to cruelty and forced labor.

It's shocking that so many of us have heard of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, yet how many have heard what was done to some of these women who were also turned into guinea pigs and given placebos while the disease progress was studied?

Nina McCall who didn't have an STD but was subjected to mercury injections against her will fought back and sued the government.

The Trials of Nina McCall: Sex, Surveillance, and the Decades-Long Government Plan to Imprison "Promiscuous" Women Hardcover – May 15, 2018

 

[nighttimer]

CSPAN Book TV yesterday: The Trials of Nina McCall

This is a newly released book and the story was mind-boggling. Ever heard of "The American Plan"?


Back to the book and Nina McCall:

Mostly women, poor and powerless, often ethnic minorities, and only a rare man were imprisoned. They were subjected to cruelty and forced labor.

It's shocking that so many of us have heard of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, yet how many have heard what was done to some of these women who were also turned into guinea pigs and given placebos while the disease progress was studied?

Nothing's shocking me when it comes to how good ol' American doctors, psychologists, scientists and government entities rival the worst excesses and atrocities of the Nazis and the Japanese experiments on human beings.

For my 11,000th post, I provide evidence of the horrible things we don't believe happen here, yet do. And probably still do.

 

[rainbowsheeps]

And probably still do.

If it makes you feel any better, most universities and even state agencies that are involved in research have instituted internal ethics committees and institutional review boards (IRBs) to evaluate the ethics of a proposed experiment prior to it being conducted, wherein any epxeriment that poses more than minimal risk, or whose risks to participants outweigh its benefits to societies, is rejected and prohibited. Much of what was done in the past is no longer possible.

 

[MaeZe]

.... Much of what was done in the past is no longer possible.

That's in universities. The military and drug manufacturers have fewer restrictions.

The other issue with Nina McCall was using the government and penal system to control women and their bodies. There's certainly a resurgence of that going on in the US today.

 

[rainbowsheeps]

That's in universities. The military and drug manufacturers have fewer restrictions.

The other issue with Nina McCall was using the government and penal system to control women and their bodies. There's certainly a resurgence of that going on in the US today.

I've worked for a few state agencies - mostly focused on reducing child abuse, and anything that we did had to go through rigorous assessment at their own internal review boards PLUS the IRBs of the universities to which I was affiliated.

I also have a friend who's currently getting a doctorate degree at my university who's in a research division in the US Air Force. The Air Force, too, has IRBs.

I don't disagree that it's possible that unethical studies are done, of course... I don't have almost any faith in pharmaceutical companies, for instance, doing ethical evaluations out of the goodness of their hearts since they're highly competitive, and profit-driven. But, still, much of what's been done in the past is simply not possible anymore. I'm not saying we shouldn't be vigilant and question these types of things and assume it's not possible, though, either.

 

[MaeZe]

It can't happen here comes to mind. You are more optimistic than I am. I do believe most people are good most of the time.

But that doesn't mean bad people don't exist.

The Atlantic: For people struggling to put food on the table and a roof over their heads, "voluntary" participation in clinical trials is a slippery slope.

In 2008, the Center for Research on Multinational Corporations released a document full of examples of the detrimental effects of unethical clinical testing that went on the 1990s and throughout the 2000s in the developing world. The report included the case of clinical trials in Uganda between 1997 and 2003, when women taking the anti-transmission drug Nevirapine experienced thousands of serious adverse effects (SAEs). These symptoms went unreported and testing was allowed to continue, resulting in the (also unreported) deaths of 14 women. In Hyperabad, India in 2003, eight test subjects died during the testing of the anti-clotting drug Streptokinase. The worst part, though, was that the subjects did not even know that they were part of a trial.

These two cases are just a couple out of numerous in the report, which is only one of numerous reports of unethical clinical testing on the world's least privileged people.

 

[MAS]

I gather that they didn't corral and test men for venereal diseases? Just women?

 

[MaeZe]

I gather that they didn't corral and test men for venereal diseases? Just women?

It was as if only the women were unclean.

There were a couple men who were subjected to imprisonment but relative to the women, it was less than 1%.

Amazing how women have been viewed and treated in the world. We need more history of women books. After I finish my two fiction novels I'm going to write the real history of nursing.