Wednesday, January 20, 1999
Settlement closer over radiation tests
$5 million would go to families
BY PHILLIP PINA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A preliminary $5 million deal is in the works to end the often delayed lawsuit over Cold War radiation experiments on Cincinnati cancer patients.
A $4.3 million agreement fell apart last year when a faction of plaintiffs objected, saying they wanted more money. As part of the new deal, a separate fund was created for the objectors, raising the total settlement to about $5 million, said Robert Newman, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.
The case involves the families of about 90 cancer patients who they say were guinea pigs in a military-sanctioned experiment at the former General Hospital (now University Hospital) in the 1960s. Nearly all the patients have since died. The families say the patients' lives were shortened by radiation doses intended not for treatment but to measure how soldiers would be affected by nuclear war.
The defendants — which include the federal government, the city of Cincinnati, the University of Cincinnati and several individual researchers — said the radiation always was intended as an experimental treatment to relieve pain.
The legal battles started in 1994, after an investigation by The Cincinnati Enquirer revealed many long-withheld patient identities.
“It's been going on a lot of years,” said Barbara Mathis, niece of Lula Tarlton, who was a patient in the treatments.
“I'm glad to see it's about to be settled,” she added. Her family has not been filled in on the details of the deal, but she has supported the most recent settlement and is not expecting any new surprises.
The agreement would pay about $50,000 to about 55 families represented by Mr. Newman. The dozen objectors to the last settlement will split the new separate fund, about $1 million. Attorney John Metz, representing those objectors, would not say how the money would be split up and refused further comment.
The agreement is being circulated among the defendants and plaintiffs for their signatures, said R. Joseph Parker, the attorney for Dr. Eugene Saenger, the lead researcher named in the lawsuit.
All parties need to approve the preliminary deal before it can proceed. U.S. District Judge Sandra Beckwith has scheduled hearings for Feb. 17 for tentative approval of the pact, and April 5 for final approval.
The previous deal called for a plaque at University Hospital in memory of the patients, plus an apology from the federal government. Those agreements have not been altered much by the new deal, the attorneys said.
The lawsuit has been prolonged several times in the past few years. The 1998 deal fell apart when objectors tried to get more money. Then there was a motion filed between the lawyers of both plaintiff factions in a brewing struggle over fees. And in August 1997, an earlier agreement, later modified, was rejected by Judge Beckwith.
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