In reference to current national discussion about vaccinations, the Post-Gazette recently explored this issue in an article about historical vaccination trials involving children with disabilities at Polk State in the 1950s. The article explains the rationale for the early vaccine testing as well as the changes in perspective around such testing over time.
“‘Doing a scientific experiment on a developmentally disabled population before testing it in the general population would not be considered ethical today,’ said Arthur Caplan, a bioethics professor at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine.”
Read the full Post-Gazette article here.
The Consortium has been documenting the history of Polk State Center through oral histories and historic materials. Learn more about that project here.
