Operation Whitecoat

A Consent Statement (1955) for one of the Operation Whitecoat experiments at Fort Detrick

Operation Whitecoat was the name given to a medical research program carried out by the US Army at Fort Detrick, Maryland during the period 1954–1973. The program involved conducting medical research using volunteer enlisted personnel who eventually became nicknamed "White Coats". The volunteers, all conscientious objectors and many members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, were apprized of the purpose and goals of each project before providing consent to participate in any project. The stated purpose of the research was to defend troops and civilians against biological weapons, and it was believed that the Soviet Union was engaged in similar activities. Although the program no longer exists as it did from 1954–1973, similar medical research for this purpose is still conducted by the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infections Diseases (USAMRIID) at Fort Detrick.

Experiments

Over 2,300 U.S. Army soldiers, most of whom were trained medics, contributed to the experiments by allowing themselves to be infected with viruses and bacteria that were considered likely choices for a biological attack. Whitecoat volunteers were exposed to Q fever, yellow fever, Rift Valley fever, hepatitis A, Yersinia pestis (plague), tularemia (rabbit fever), and Venezuelan equine encephalitis and other diseases.^[1] The volunteers were then treated for the illnesses to determine the effectiveness of antibiotics and vaccines. Some soldiers were given two weeks of leave in exchange for being used as a test subject. These experiments took place at Fort Detrick which is a US Army research center located outside Washington, D.C.^[2]

The volunteers were allowed to consult with outside sources, such as family and clergy members, before deciding to participate. The participants were required to sign consent forms after discussing the risks and treatments with a medical officer. Of the soldiers who were approached about participating, 20% declined.^[3] Much of the testing remains classified, and Fort Detrick allows no visitors, not even exsoldiers who were exposed as part of the tests can visit.^{[citation needed]}

Results

Many of the vaccines that protect against biowarfare agents were first tested on humans in Operation Whitecoat.^[4]

According to USAMRIID, the Whitecoat operation contributed to vaccines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for yellow fever and hepatitis, and investigational drugs for Q fever, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, Rift Valley fever, and tularemia. USAMRIID also states that Operation Whitecoat helped develop biological safety equipment, including hooded safety cabinets, decontamination procedures, fermentors, incubators, centrifuges, and particle sizers.^[5]

US GAO report

The United States Government Accountability Office issued a report on September 28, 1994, which stated that between 1940 and 1974, the United States Department of Defense and other national security agencies studied hundreds of thousands of human subjects in tests and experiments involving hazardous substances.

A quotation from the study:

Many experiments that tested various biological agents on human subjects, referred to as Operation Whitecoat, were carried out at Fort Detrick, Maryland, in the 1950s. The human subjects originally consisted of volunteer enlisted men. However, after the enlisted men staged a sitdown strike to obtain more information about the dangers of the biological tests, Seventh-day Adventists who were conscientious objectors were recruited for the studies.^[6]

Long-term health effects

No Whitecoats died during the test period.^[1] The Army has addresses for only 1000 of the 2300 people known to have volunteered.^[4] Only about 500 (23%) of the Whitecoats have been surveyed, and the military chose not to fund blood tests.^[1] A handful of respondents claim to have lingering health effects,^[4] and at least one subject claims to have serious health problems as a result of the experiments.^[1]

Adventists and Operation Whitecoat

Adventist view of military service

The Seventh-day Adventist Church's relationship to government military activity has been supportive but noncombative. In 1936, the SDA Church established the Medical Cadet Corps Training Program. This allowed Adventists to remain noncombatant but positive toward the war effort. Sabbath observance remained a concern for the drafted members of the church. Adventist Conscientious Objector perspective differed from the National Interreligious Service Board for Conscientious Objectors, (NISBCO). In 1967, Adventists withdrew from NISBCO because that organization opposed conscription.

According to Bull and Lockhart, Operation Whitecoat, and the earlier established Medical Corps, enabled Adventists to participate in the armed services without violating their Sabbath principles. ^[7]

See also

• Human experimentation in the United States
• US Senate Report on chemical weapons
• Project SHAD
• US Biological Weapon Testing

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Operation Whitecoat". PBS Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly. 2003-09-24. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week708/cover.html. Retrieved 2007-03-09. 
2. ^ "Hidden history of US germ testing". BBC. 2006-02-13. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/file_on_4/4701196.stm. Retrieved 2010-01-03. 
3. ^ Stephenson, Jeffery; Arthur Anderson (2007). "Ethical and Legal Dilemmas in Biodefense Research" (pdf). http://www.bordeninstitute.army.mil/published_volumes/biological_warfare/BW-ch24.pdf. Retrieved 2009-04-16. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} Snyder, David; staff researcher Bobbye Pratt (2003-05-06). "The Front Lines of Biowarfare". Washington Post. http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/Bioter/frontlinesbiowarfare.html. Retrieved 2007-03-16. 
5. ^ Linden, Caree (2005-06). "USAMRIID Celebrates 50 Years of Science". U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. http://www.armymedicine.army.mil/news/mercury/05-06/usamriid.cfm. Retrieved 2007-03-16. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ "Staff Report prepared for the committee on veterans' affairs December 8, 1994 John D. Rockefeller IV, West Virginia, Chairman.". http://www.gulfweb.org/bigdoc/rockrep.cfm. Retrieved 2006-07-30. 
7. ^ Bull, Malcolm; Lockhart, Keith (2007). Seeking a Sanctuary: Seventh-day Adventism and the American Dream (2nd ed.). Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 188. ISBN 13, 978-0-253-34764-0. http://books.google.com/?id=ACUBSUGQCMYC&pg=PA188&dq=%22operation+whitecoat%22#v=onepage&q=%22operation%20whitecoat%22&f=false. 

External links

• The Living Weapon, chapter 8 about Operation Whitecoat, from the American Experience documentary video
• Adventist Volunteers Lauded on "Operation Whitecoat" Anniversary - Adventist News Network
• O'Neal, Glenn (December 19, 2001). "The risks of Operation Whitecoat" (subscription required). USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/bioterrorism/2001-12-20-whitecoat-sidebar.htm. 
• Linden, Caree Vander United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases celebrates 50-year research tradition March 3, 2005 "Operation Whitecoat served as a model for the ethical use of human subjects in research"