Fernald Victims Must Be Compensated

Together with the rest of the nation, we have watched with horror as details of radiation tests conducted on unknowing subjects during the 1940s and fifties have become known. And we have been especially distressed upon learning that some of the tests--those that took place at the Walter E. Fernald State School for the retarded in Waltham--were led by Harvard faculty.

We are pleased that the University appears to be approaching this matter expeditiously and with appropriate seriousness. Archivists are currently probing through the files of the Harvard physician involved in the experiments, Dr. Clemens E. Benda, and Harvard is cooperating fully with state and federal agencies investigating what exactly took place at Fernald, who was responsible, and who was affected.

We commend President Neil L. Rudenstine on his personal attention to the matter and on his decision to ask Provost Jerry R. Green to head up a special panel of experts to investigate Harvard's involvement in the tests. And we commend Green on naming to that panel a group of highly qualified scientists, ethicists, medical historians and human rights advocates.

Still, since learning of the Fernald tragedy, the University has not behaved blamelessly. Harvard has sealed the Benda files, citing a threat to the privacy of his patients. But this excuse seems disingenuous. After all, those files have been available for scholars to view for years and Harvard never once expressed any concerns for patient privacy during all that time.

And, while it is true that the files are attracting much more attention now than they have in many years, it is more likely that Harvard's intent in sealing them is to prevent any new information from becoming public that may be damaging to the University, either from a public relations or legal standpoint.

Finally, it is undeniable that, regardless of any actual physical harm inflicted on these unknowing subjects, the emotional trauma they and their families have suffered since learning of the tests must be enormous. Harvard, MIT and the state of Massachusetts are responsible for that trauma, and for the blatant illegality of their actions.

As a result, Harvard, MIT and the state should expeditiously acknowledge the full extent of their responsibility for the Fernald experiments and should be forthcoming with substantial financial compensation that includes lifelong health care for the victims. Refusing to do so--and extending this saga further through legal maneuvers and court battles--would only compound the tragedy of the crimes that were committed.