Swollen feet and a wanted apology

Yusef Anthony thought participating in a Penn-conducted study on Johnson & Johnson bubble bath would be a safe way to earn easy money.

And so during his first week as an inmate in Philadelphia's Holmesburg Prison, Anthony was led into a cellblock-turned-laboratory. There, an inmate in a lab coat peeled off patches of skin from his back and sprayed chemicals on the open wounds.

Pus-filled blisters formed overnight, and his black skin turned "strawberry" red. After several days of excruciating pain, he was taken off the test.

He earned $37.

But the medical and psychological side effects of this and other tests continue to cost him, more than 40 years later.

The experiment was one of thousands Penn conducted under the direction of dermatologist and professor emeritus Albert Kligman in Holmesburg Prison from 1951 to 1974.

The controversy, for which the University and Kligman continue to deny wrongdoing, has been stirred up yet again with the recent release of Sentenced to Science by Temple University urban studies professor Allen Hornblum, which details Anthony's experiences and ongoing struggle.

According to Hornblum, the inmates - some of whom signed waivers, though most were virtually illiterate- were exposed- to infectious diseases, radioactive isotopes, psychotropic drugs and other dangerous chemicals for skin-related research.

Some of the studies led to the development of anti-wrinkle cream Retin-A and have made Penn and Kligman millions.

"These were Frankenstein-style practices going on," Anthony said. "Crimes against humanity."

Today, the 64-year-old sees a doctor at least once a month. Peeling an orange causes itching and irritation that only scalding hot water can relieve.

His hands used to swell to the size of boxing gloves, and his size 10 feet would barely fit a size 14 shoe. Brittle bones, fatigue and severe stomach problems also plague him.

The University acknowledges that the prison studies took place but still stand by Kligman.

"In the 1950s and 1960s, the use of willing, compensated prisoners for biomedical research was a commonly accepted practice by this nation's scientists," University officials wrote in a statement.

The statement focuses on the "strict rules and regulations" in place today and invites former inmates with long-term harm from the experiments to contact the University for a free medical evaluation.

Medical School spokesman Marc Kaplan did not offer further comment.

In 2000, Anthony and nearly three hundred former Holmesburg inmates sued Kligman, Penn, the city of Philadelphia and two of the pharmaceutical companies involved, but the case was thrown out two years later because the statute of limitations had run out.

Meanwhile, dermatologist Bernard Ackerman said Kligman, now 91, has stopped giving interviews, but he continues to conduct research. His portrait hangs prominently in the dermatology department's reception room.

"Kligman was and is an intelligent man. He is not a dope. He knew what he was doing," said Ackerman, who did his second year of residency under Kligman in the 1960s. "He doesn't feel one iota of shame."

"He loved to say we've got acres of skin at Holmesburg prison," added Ackerman, who researched dandruff in the prison and left Penn after a year of residency. He is one of the only Penn researchers to speak out against the University's practices in Holmesburg.

But inmates were just the tip of the iceberg, Ackerman said. Penn also tested on retarded children and the elderly.

He and other critics say that the research was a direct violation of the Nuremberg Code, which was created after World War II in response to the inhumane experimentation on Jews in Nazi Germany.

"Ethics tend to keep you away from the goal," Hornblum said. "The goal is to make money."

Comments (5)

I am a victim of Prof A M Kligman, Univer. of Penn and Johnson and Johnson, also. I used a product that the FDA did not fully test in order to prevent Univ of Penn from suing Johnson and Johnson for buying Kligman's patents Renova 0.05%. As a cancer patient the dermatologist who prescribed and advertised this cream should never have dispensed it to me. This product contains mutatangenic chemicals of benzene and hydroquinoline and other toxic photochemicals that the FDA knew about as they released their own Photo Chemical Toxicity Report in 2002 and 2003. They used the words photo sensitive which means nothing to the private consumers and patients, but that is suppose to mean carcingenic. The chemicals partition the membranes which then allows micro organisms from the envirnment and other toxic chemicals to enter skin, which is stated in this report. It was Jonathan Kaye report on Retina A Wrinkle Path, that brought to researching every chemical and the patents and the patents that patents of 4877805 refer to. This product is nothing but toxic chemicals used in electronic chemistry and at nano scale to manipulate atoms and particles using chemistry ionization radiation tunneling. Separating the strateum corneum from the skeleton, see Kligman's "Isolated Skin Sheets" where he thanks the prisoners of Holmesburg Prison. Physicians refuse to tests to prove what was done to me, the horrific scars left from horrific chemicals burns, burnt coreas, blurred visions, massive headaches and stomach pains, swelled feet and fingers where the electrodes are sandwiched into the membranes of the skin, Please see Dr. Hildegarde Staninger's report on nano technology and the new emerging disease Morgellons, fiber and thread disesase. the chemicals used in renova are about polymerization, altering DNA to RNA, causing sterility, causing dermatitis, and many other horrible side effects. Kligman used in patent 4877805 5 times fold of accutane in this product, the patient's and physician pamphlet don't even state that accutane was used. Under radio pharmaceutical laws anything that uses ligands, photons and orphan radicals falls under strict supervision and all adverse effects must be reported, that was not done, except by me and the FDA still did nothing to help me and now I find out that these chemicals are nothing but toxic poisioning and I lost eight years of my life and my children lost the happy, loving functional mother they once had and their father, my husband left us because of cruel dermatologist, instead of admitting to the cruel act tried to have me declared mentally insane for researching and demanding tests. I never agreed to be an experiment and I was informed it was safe and that Dr. Booth Durham stated he uses it himself. Where are all the attorneys, who state if you have these side effects call them, and then refuse to help, all have the $9,000.00 chemical books that state what these chemicals do, they knew it and allowed me to suffer. What happen to America and what happend to laws that were in place to protect us. This product also falls under bio ism laws as it contains phosphorous, which glows in the dark and which physicians knew and why they never used wood lamps, or any other method that would show what covers our skin, they used dimenthyl arsenic which is used to fuel the cell of their chemical batteries used in nano tech. Someone needs to wake up soon. There are 60000 people who reported to Dr. Staninger having Morgellon symptoms and 20000 to OSU, I believe I was quoted. Please help me to meet with Mr. Anthony, he isn't aware that the retinol contains radiation chemicals and using photons that are radioactive and irradiation decay. How a called etrinate that was banned in 1998 could have been used in this cream in 1999, is a real farce to me. Etrinate stays in the body for years, especially when combined with ethanol which was used in this cream and any alcohol use would keep in prolonged in the body. Thank you in advance for any help.

The world must come to understand, that when pharmaceutical corps are being allowed to test prisoners with toxic chemicals and viruses that are potentially infectious to other humans, they are allowing pandemics to happen. These prisoners are able to infect those who visit them, infect the guards and medical staff, and when released can infect those in society. If, we finding testing being done on animals to be inhumane, how do we allow testing on humans? In the past two decades these pharmaceutical corp. and cosmetic corp. have been putting nano particles that self assembly and self replicate into our medications and cosmetics and food supply. They are now finding out that they are more toxic than asbestos, a little too late for those of us that are suffering severe adverse effects. Dermatologists are telling us to use retinoid creams like Rein-A, Renova 0.05% and Renova 0.02%. Accutane, etc. These chemicals work at the nuclear receptors, and they change DNA to RNA, altering and mutating genetics. All-Trans-Retinoic Acid is plasma from the intestines, otherwise known as the e-coli bacteria. Arsenic is used with All-Trans-Retinoic and causes long term health problems. It causes pulmonary problems, lung inflammation, silicosis, Crohn's Disease, opaciity of the cornea, glass opacity of the lungs, liver disease and hepatitis, such as Etretinate, which was banned in 1998, but that didn't stop Johnson and Johnson and Am Kligman and Univer of Penn., from putting it in Renova 0.05%, see patent 4877805. The initials TTNPB stand for the human hepatitis virus, which causes Epstein-Barr Virus. Accutane has zinc salts, used in nano tech to make nano wires and nano belts. It contains isopropene (polyvinyl) used in making rubber and a known carcingenic. Research your products before using them. Find the patents and what chemicals are used in the product. Research the patents that they refer to. They use these self assembling and self replicating systems in our products without having the fortitude of looking ahead first. Dept. of Energy invested billions of dollars into the nano technology development and knew that hazardous chemicals like arsenic and phosgenes were being put into these products. They knew that polyvinyl produces micro organisms, toulene and xylene and benzene produce pseudomonas and xanthum produces fusarium. Our cosmetics corp. are putting proteins from silkworms, bacteria, marine life into our products. See Revlon Extensins patent. Our cosmetics and drugs contain carbon black and pigments agents that are used in electronics and are carcingenic. Our trust has been betrayed and lives in serious jeopardy. Physicians look away and pretend they don't see the adverse effects, betraying their patients and causing more harm. One said no one cares because everyone is too busy. Too busy make a lot of money off our insurance cos., and our out of pocket expenses and we never get better, just past on to new specialists and when all else fails, they said is pyschiatric and give that profession a chance of making income off your pain and suffering. A mew emerging disease called Morgellons has now been created, findings are showing nano technology and the microbial organisms used in this technology. Please see Dr. Hildegarde Staninger's reports and Dr. H. T. Harvey's reports from Morgellon Research Foundation. See letters from Dr. Greg Smith, former pediatrician, who is now a Morgellon sufferer. Remember your children who are wearing cosmetics and the potential harm to them. Remember when your child suffers the hearbreak of acne, and a dermatologist puts them hazardous creams that will have long term effects on them, which these products don't even list. Renova 0.05% listed only a slight warm sensation, some redness and swollen, and tightening. The tightening is from the zinc nano wires that literally screw into your skin and bones. Research zinc salt and nano wires and nao belts (like a conveyor belt--why would that be in a cream), because they are creating a nano structure out of metals that use spintronics to weave a false netting over your face called pseudo skin using collagen, elastomers and a host of toxic chemicals. They transfect your hair follicles to use to delivery their toxic chemicals. Then they leave you to suffer. Our children use gel products for their hair, gel is made up of gases and silicates and are electronic components. Retinoids use ligands and scaffolds and the horrifying investigation of Renova 0.05% lead to the horrifying discoveries of what this product and other products are really about--toxic garbage. I hope I reach some of you and hope you will help in stopping the sales of these products and call an investigation into how this was allowed to go on for so long. No one is exempt and we are all victims.

Last year I gave all information on how toxic retinoids are and now I found on the fda website http://www.fda.gov/cder/approval/r.htm scroll down to Renova (tretinoin) 0.02% click on date 3/28/04 or try to go directly to http://www.fda.gov/cder/foi/nda/2000/21-108 Renova.htm and click on each Review from Medical to Chemistry to Pharmocology, Statistical and Microbiology. You will see that Johnson and Johnson had over 14,000 adverse events reported from patients and many of which I have reported to them and they refused to help as have so many attorneys that I went to over the past nine years pleading for help. Report from impetigo to facial cellulitis to death to a woman losing her unborn child to rashes and bites. There is a table in the medical review that gives a table of side effects that the subjects had reported from dermatitis to eye infections to respiratory problems. I informed you before that St. Mary's Univ in S. Korea reported that atra (all trans retinoic acid also known as tRA and tretinoin and isotretion (accutane) can cause all trans retinoic syndrome (as this compound uses arsenite and can cause ground glass opacity of lungs, infiltrates and breathing problems like your throat closing up, vocal cord problems and under pharmacological review it will tell you of bone fractures and deformities and hemmorrhaging of animals tested. In patent 4877805 it states an ingredient of TTNPB by using the accession number P10826 it took me to EMBL-EBI database http://www.ebi.ac.uk/pdbsum/lxap it will inform you that it is "structure of the ligand binding domain of the retinoic acid receptor beta. Retinoic acid receptor beta. Chain. a. Fragment: ligand binding doman. Synonym: rar-beta, rar-epsilon, hbv-activated protein Engineered: yes" Engineered means man made. It is very toxic and per BIOMOL and MARLIGEN it should not be used on humans. Why is then in several of Prof. A M Kligman's patents. Why was this product Renova 0.02% approved when the FDA had my documents on what Renova 0.05% did to my face, eyes and body as a whole? Nature Medicine Volume 10/ Number 10/ October 2004 (PDF) Lasker Basic Medical Research Award has an article titled "A transcriptional basis for physiology" by Ronald Evans it will give you information on how long retinoids have been studied and how 9-cis (also used in patent 4877805) with the clone Drosphila RXR homolog and that the heterodimerization through RXR was evolutionarily conseved from fly to human." Hormone "A substance, usually a peptide or steroid, produced by one tissue and conveyed by the bloodstream to another to effect physiological activity, such as growth or metabolism." They are using proteins (retinoids) from other species such as 13 cis isotretinoin from the bacteriorhodopsin the purple membrane, all trans retinoic is gut flora, octatrienoic acid is aphids from the gall so insects used in making plastics. In "Isolated Skin Sheets" Prof AM Kligman used the prisoners from Holmesburg Prison and when he used cantharidin to deliberately make blisters on these human beings that were locked up supposedly by civil human beings. Cantharidin is a terpene and so are retinoids, and they the Spanish Fly and Blister Beetle that secret a poisonous substance that is in the same category as strychnin. See http://www.faidherbe.org/site/cours/dupuis/canthar4.htm this article will show you how cantharidin is synthesis. How chemicals can make the skeleton structure of an insect or whatever else they want to create and use the poisons that these insects secrete. I pleaded with Rutgers Univer to help me in having my hair samples and the cream analyzed three years ago and they refused to help me. I found an article http://www.eohsi.rutgers.edu/facultystaff/view.php?id=77 Frederick Kauffman, Ph.D. Professor in Rutgers Pharmacology and Toxicology dept. who published an article on TTNPB and its toxicity a few weeks ago. The bottom of the page shows EOHSI is a joint institution of UMD-NJ, Robert Woods Johnson and Rutgers. I was devastated to find out that I was lied to and prevented from finding out what Johnson and Johnson was marketing to innocent and unknowing women and teenagers as a miracle drug to prevent wrinkles. I have investigated every chemical in this product and not one is good for skin. Putting viruses in a cream that was man made is even more detrimental to my health and others. Congress is funding the CDC on finding out why there is an outbreak of Hepatitis B virus. He's there answere it is being put in creams being sold by dermatologists. Patent 7349834 Molecular Motor will inform you on how they are using proteins and viruses to make molecular motors to be used in and on humans. Instead of listening to people like Dr. Hildegard Staninger and patients who filed complaints, they ignored and allowed more innocent people to use these poisons and that is a crime. Dr. Staninger has spent all she has on trying to educate people about the hazards of nano technology, which retinoids and the compounds work at nano level. She needs every single person in this country to help support her research that is greatly needed to stop nano technology that has already proven toxic by the CDC/NIOSH, but yet they won't help innocent people get the tests they need and the treatment they need to get better. Chemicals used in Renova are electronical chemicals, not chemicals for skin but chemicals that are building a complex matrix and causing carbon dioxide poisoning and other toxic poisons to our bodies. Dow Corning knew that silicone breast implants proved toxic to women, now they use liquid silicone (and floating electrodes) a delivery systems that entrap and encapsulate these retinoid agents. Please (PDF) Silicone Technologies as Delivery Systems via Entrapment or Encapsulation. Dow Corning, Europe, Seneffe, Belgium. Someone needs to take responsibilty for the lives that were damaged by these types of products and someone needs to allow women and teenagers to know the truth and the entire truth. I pray that an ethical chemist and biologist and an attorney will see this and help me and the thousands of others who the medical field silenced with unethical practices. The trust of patients has been broken. Patent 5443855, Cosmetics and pharmaceuticals containing extensins and related methods, Revlon, admits that it is common practice for pharmaceutical corp and cosmetics corp. to use protein from bacteria, fungus, silkworms, marine animals. Where are our skin problems coming from?

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