"Catholic" University Permits Questionable Medical Experiments

St. Louis Post-Dispatch ^ | 12/08/02 | William Burke, M.D.

[Desdemona]

Ok folks, time to put some hard questions to Fr. B.

I'll see what I can do on the ground. I told my mom about this and she's really upset at the whole idea. As she is good friends with a lot of people in the Catholic high school scene, maybe some HS teachers will be willing to help.

[pseudo-justin]

puts this university in the role of pimp by providing students for sexual medical experiments and getting paid for it.

it is possible that non-students may volunteer, I am sure that some of the poor of St. Louis may be signing up.

Yes, I know that de Mello was condemned, I know that what Jesuit education means to the Jesuits today is not only incoherent, but vastly different from what it meant to St. Ignatius, Canisius, Bellarmine, Gonzaga, and all the great Jesuit Saints. And the "We and God Spirituality Center" is a typical example of all that is wrong with Catholic Universities.

This gibberish is what students are fed in their theology classes, it is what they hear in the campus ministry Mass homilies, it is what they hear on their student retreats, and it is the dominant theory in terms of which they receive counseling and spiritual direction, and it is what they take away from an education that somebody poured tens of thousands of dollars into. Many soon lose their faith...

This is why I am saying,

PEOPLE, THE PRESENT OF THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITES IS THE FUTURE OF THE CHURCH. DO SOMETHING NOW, OR THE IDEAS FED TO THESE STUDENTS WILL BE IN YOUR RCIA PROGRAMS, YOUR CONFIRMATION PROGRAMS, YOUR RELIGIOUS ED PROGRAMS, YOUR MARRIAGE PREP PROGRAMS, THE HOMILIES YOU HEAR, THE RETREAT CENTERS YOU ATTEND, THE CATHOLIC CHARITIES WHO PRESENT THE FACE OF THE CHURCH TO THE WORLD. THEY WILL BE IN THE CATHOLIC PERIODICALS, THE HYMNALS, AND THE DEVOTIONAL WRITINGS. THESE STUDENTS WILL CONTINUE THE TREND OF CATHOLICS VOTING THE DEMOCRATIC, PRO-ABORTION TICKET, AND THEY WILL SUPPORT EVERY LIBERAL CAUSE THAT IS CONTRARY TO THE GOSPEL -- ALL IN THE NAME OF THE GOSPEL. THESE UNIVERSITES WERE BUILT WITH THE CATHOLIC MONEY OF OUR PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS. NOW THEY STINK WITH THE FOUL STENCH OF THE CULTURE OF DEATH. BRING LIFE TO THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITES...OR YOU WE WILL SURELY GET ANOTHER CLINTON(GEORGETOWN'S FAVORITE SON)

Right now, these administrators are thinking that faithful Catholics are the fringe minority, and that no one can touch them or harm their position. Prove them wrong.

[Desdemona]

I suppose Biondi's vow of celibacy will prevent him from being first in line for this experiment.

Rumor has it he had his fingers crossed when he took that vow. And yours truly would not be in any danger from him.

[pseudo-justin]

I have some more information about the herpes trial at SLU. 8,000 subjects. Half of them will receive the vaccine, half will not. They are being paid to have promiscuous sex with people in the population at large. Multiple partners counts as "compliant", and compliance pays.

The defenders of the experiment say that no one is being paid to do what they would not do anyway. They are seeking to compare the herpes infection rate of the experimental group and the control group for "normal" sexual activity in the population at large.

[RnMomof7]

WOW that is shocking for ANY hospital or University..these woman are being put at risk for a life long disease

In Africa they did a study for a vaginal cream that was supposed to stop the spread of aids..the infection rate skyrocketed..(one has to wonder if it was because they felt safe) and they had to discontinue it to save womens lives..(BTW the cream is still given here)

[WriteOn]

freeped

[Desdemona]

I did some digging last night. This is what I found:

The Grant is through the Allergy and Immunology branch of the NIH. So, somewhere there has to be a public record.

SLU is one of 16 centers participating, but they are the lead center. It seems that the head of the vaccine unit has strong connections with the NIH, and I don't remember his name off the top of my head.

The Principle Investigator is Robert Belshe, or something like that. (see www.slu.edu for details) (story date was November 20, 2002)

The vaccine itself, it seems, has already been developed in Belgium by GlaxoSmithKline. According to the story on the Glaxo homepage, it looks like they're putting up the cash and this is the clinical trials for FDA approval.

BUT, since the dates are so recent, I don't think it's published yet. I couldn't find an abstract on Medline or through the NIH. There is a story in Lancet earlier this year, but not re the US trials.

I'll dig some more, since the other centers weren't named in any story.

That STILL doesn't explain how on earth the proposal made it past an ethics panel.

[Desdemona]

I don't have a ping list so....

Adendum to post #28.

There is an article in the New England Journal of Medicine of this study from November 27 which is not on Medline yet.

I found the list of research centers involved. SLU is the only Catholic school, so far as I can tell. There is contact information, but it looks like it's the coordinators for volunteers, not the researchers themselves. Almost as bad as Catholic schools, most of them are state universities.

Alamaba
Univ of Alabama Birmingham Division of Infectious Diseases


California
UCLA Center for Vaccine Research

Colorado
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (Denver)

Indiana
IUPUI, although it's listed as Indiana University

Louisiana
Louisiana State University

Maryland
Johns Hopkins University
University of Maryland School of Medicine

Missouri
St. Louis University

North Carolina
University of North Carolina

New York
University of Rochester

Ohio
no institution listed

Oregon
Westover Heights Clinic (Portland)

Pennsylvania
Primary Physicians Research, Inc. (Pittsburg)

Texas
Baylor College of Medicine

Utah
University of Utah Medical Center

Washington
Univerisity of Washington

[ninenot]

Looks like the Tuskegee study has become a prime example of how to engage in unethical experimentation.

Yeah, but the book was written by the Nazis and Dr. Mengele (who was last reported to be an active abortionist in South America--surprise, surprise.)

SO now the Jebbies are taking their ethical standards from the National Socialists?

[ninenot]

Email the item to Rigali along with a simple question or two, and CC the email to USCC and the Vatican.

It's about time that the Jebs down there get their butts kicked. One of the SLU faculty Jesuits is originally from Milwaukee and is a blatant heretic (I know because he USED to preach now and then at our Parish---the new Pastor, a Franciscan, drop-kicked the guy out of the pulpit.)

At any rate, this Milwaukee native Jebby thinks his *^%$ is ice-cream, too, and doesn't like it at ALL when lay Catholics accost him in the vestibule with loud demands for citations.

Hee, hee, hee.

[ninenot]

I would add that the principal moral actor here is SLU. They are the ones who have a moral restriction--they may not "do harm."

As to the self-selected subjects--they are secondary actors and, yes, NOT allowed to self-mutilate.

[ninenot]

PEOPLE, THE PRESENT OF THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITES IS THE FUTURE OF THE CHURCH. DO SOMETHING NOW, OR THE IDEAS FED TO THESE STUDENTS WILL BE IN YOUR RCIA PROGRAMS, YOUR CONFIRMATION PROGRAMS, YOUR RELIGIOUS ED PROGRAMS, YOUR MARRIAGE PREP PROGRAMS, THE HOMILIES YOU HEAR, THE RETREAT CENTERS YOU ATTEND, THE CATHOLIC CHARITIES WHO PRESENT THE FACE OF THE CHURCH TO THE WORLD. THEY WILL BE IN THE CATHOLIC PERIODICALS, THE HYMNALS, AND THE DEVOTIONAL WRITINGS. THESE STUDENTS WILL CONTINUE THE TREND OF CATHOLICS VOTING THE DEMOCRATIC, PRO-ABORTION TICKET, AND THEY WILL SUPPORT EVERY LIBERAL CAUSE THAT IS CONTRARY TO THE GOSPEL -- ALL IN THE NAME OF THE GOSPEL.

Ahh, Justin--it's too late.

Most of this garbage was well underway by 1970. Take it from me--I lived through it.

[ninenot]

Is it because you are a musician that he has no, ah, taste for you?? Of because you have more native IQ?

[Desdemona]

I would add that the principal moral actor here is SLU. They are the ones who have a moral restriction--they may not "do harm."

See posts 28 & 29. There's a lot more to it.

[Desdemona]

Is it because you are a musician that he has no, ah, taste for you?? Of because you have more native IQ?

No. Way too curvey. Wrong gender too.

[ninenot]

That STILL doesn't explain how on earth the proposal made it past an ethics panel.

FOLLOW THE MONEY!!!

[pseudo-justin]

One of the websites that Desdemona has found says:

"In the new trial, volunteers will be randomly assigned to receive either the candidate vaccine or a vaccine against hepatitis A. (This gives all participants a chance to be protected from a disease.)"

This is a crucial part of the justification. Everyone who participates benefits in some way, everyone is going to be protected either from herpes or from hepatitis A. It is just that the participants will not know which disease they are being protected from.

Reply: The vaccince being tested is already known to be 75% effective, there is still a 25% chance of contracting herpes (not to mention risk for other STD's) by the promiscuous sex you are paying people to engage in.

Requirements for acceptable subjects: women in monogomous relationships not welcome & women who plan to abstain not welcome.

Reply to my reply: we are not paying people to engage in any activity in which they otherwise would not engage in.

Ah, then why pay them at all? why not just offer free vaccines for herpes and hepatitis A?

[pseudo-justin]

it's too late

It is too late to achieve anything significant right away, anything that will have large scale, immediate impact on a lot of students in the Universities. For that, a whole generation of the old-guard leadership needs to retire or die. But it is not too late to slow the decay process, reach the up and coming leadership, and begin to turn things around on a smaller scale -- in pockets here and there. Constructing anything good is always alot harder than destroying the good that has already been built up.

External pressure upon the Universities will add up over time to something...if enough people turn the screws. The Universities have gotten away with the b.s. precisely because no one has outspokenly criticized them on a large scale basis as we have criticized the Bishops in recent months.

If large numbers of Catholics could articulate a clear indictment of the Universities to the freshman and sophomores listening to blather, and convince them that they are being fed garbage, that their minds are being twisted by incompetent people, it would have a beneficial effect in the long run.

So people, write to your "Catholic" alma mater announcing your intent to withold funds, call your local Catholic radio stations and detail the decay at your local Catholic college, create web pages indicting theology professors and their writings, call the school's radio station call-in-shows and denounce the teachings of certain theology profs., indict the campus ministries in your archdiocesan newspapers, complain to the Bishops, tell the high school seniors and their parents what they will get at "Catholic" schools, then turn your sights on the Presidents, the Deans, the Provosts, demand public Q & A forums, and publicly announce who declines the invitation. There are alot of student contacts inside each university who will listen and cooperate.

organizations are already forming, go to:

http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/

http://www.holycrosscardinalnewmansociety.org/

www.catholiccollegestudents.org