U. may seek more data in inmate's suit

A University lawyer said yesterday that officials need more specific information before they can respond to charges made in a $6 million lawsuit that University researchers conducted radiation experiments on a prison inmate. Edward Farrington, a former inmate of Holmesburg Prison, alleges that he contracted leukemia as a result of a University-sponsored radiation experiment at the prison in 1967. Farrington claims that during the experiments, he was injected with radioactive material. Associate General Counsel Neil Hamburg said yesterday that it is unclear what research Farrington is referring to, adding that the University is considering making a motion that the federal court order Farrington to issue a more specific complaint. "We're trying to figure out what this person is talking about," Hamburg said. "If he gave more information, we would have some idea where to look." University officials received the official summons in the case yesterday. Farrington said in his suit, filed without the aid of an attorney, that University researchers told him the experiment would have no side effects. In addition to the University, the city of Philadelphia and Holmeburg prison, where the research allegedly took place, were named as defendents in the case. Chief Deputy City Solicitor Norma Weaver said city officials will conduct an investigation of the matter. She added that she could not comment until the investigators issued a report. Holmesburg prison officials declined comment on the case in a statement last week, saying that prison policy forbids officials to speak on cases before they go to trial.

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