Albert Kligman

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Albert Montgomery Kligman (March 17, 1916 – February 9, 2010)

Retin-A, the acne medication, with James Fulton in 1969.[2] Kligman performed human experiments on inmates at Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia, which led to a well-documented scandal years later. The experiments intentionally exposed humans to pathogens and dioxin, and later became a textbook example of unethical experimenting on humans. He and others involved were sued for alleged injuries, but the lawsuit was dismissed due to the statute of limitations expiring.[1]

Biography

Albert Montgomery Kligman was born in Philadelphia on March 17, 1916, the son of Jewish immigrants. His father, born in Ukraine, was a newspaper distributor; his mother, born in England, was a sales clerk. As a child, he was a

Boy Scout, developing a love of plants on scouting trips to the countryside.[3]

With financial support from Simon Greenberg, a major rabbi of the time, he attended Pennsylvania State University, earning a bachelor's degree in 1939. He was captain of the gymnastics team.[4]

He went on to receive a Ph.D. in

its medical school, earning his M.D.
in 1947. He chose dermatology as his specialty in order to apply his expertise in fungi.

Upon graduation, he joined the dermatology faculty as an associate, also signing on at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.[4]

Scholarship and inventions

Kligman was a prolific scholar and was known for bringing scientific rigor to a field that, at the time, was lacking it. Kligman wrote numerous papers on run-of-the-mill dermatological conditions such as athlete's foot and dandruff. He also worked at the intersection of cosmetics and medicine. [citation needed]

The identification of the use of

Retin-A, this innovation earned Kligman significant royalties. He was a generous supporter of the department of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania and donated over $4 million by 1998.[5]

Further information: Human maximisation test

Unethical dermatological experiments

For broader coverage of Holmesburg prison, see Holmesburg Prison § Experiments on inmates.

Kligman is best known for having conducted human experiments on prisoners at

Dow Chemical paid Kligman $10,000[failed verification] to conduct these dioxin experiments. Prisoners were awarded for participation, their primary source of income, in 1959 acquiring in total $73,000 by volunteering to test pills and creams. Little effort was taken to assure the safety of the test subjects, some of whom were intentionally exposed to pathogens causing infections, including herpes, staphylococcus, and athlete's foot. Moreover, Kligman's payment of subjects had other unintended consequences: the economic power gained by subjects was used by some of them to "coerce sexual favors from other inmates".[6]

Kligman's prisoner testing for the government was not limited to dermatology, extending even to the testing of

psychoactive drugs for the Department of Defense.[7]

While Kligman maintained that the testing was consistent with scientific and ethical norms of the era, nearly 300 subjects tested while in prison sued him, the University of Pennsylvania, and Johnson & Johnson. The lawsuit was brought because of violations of the Nuremberg Code. Though the suit was dismissed under the statute of limitations, the public reaction to the testing program contributed to the enactment of federal regulations restricting medical studies in prisons.[1] Later commentators, including Senator Ted Kennedy, remarked how, in spite of the sets of ethical principles laid out in the 1947 Nuremberg Code and (much later) the Declaration of Helsinki, the poorer members of society typically bore the brunt of unethical biomedical research; Kligman's research at Holmesburg prison has become a textbook example of such unethical experimenting,[6][8][9][10][11] and has been denounced as equivalent to "the barbarity and sadism of Auschwitz and Dachau."[12]

Beyond the controversies relating to the testing on prisoners, Kligman was found to have discrepancies in the data underlying his experiments. This led to his research being barred by the Food and Drug Administration for a period.[1]

Personal life

Kligman was married three times. He divorced from his first wife and became a widower from his second. He died of a heart attack in February, 2010, at age 93. He was survived by his third wife.[1]

See also

  • Acres of Skin: Human Experiments at Holmesburg Prison
    , an account of Kligman's Holmesburg experiments.
  • Human experimentation in the United States

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Gellene, Denise (February 22, 2010). "Dr. Albert M. Kligman, Dermatologist, Dies at 93". The New York Times. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
  2. ^ J., Elinor (July 8, 2013). "Dr. James Fulton, co-creator of Retin-A and acne researcher, dies". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on July 27, 2013. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
  3. ^ Loviglio, Joann (February 22, 2010). "Albert M. Kligman, dermatologist who patented Retin-A, dies at 93". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
  4. ^ a b Naedele, Walter F. (February 21, 2010). "Albert M. Kligman, 93, dermatology researcher". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  5. ISBN 978-1-56000-033-4
    . Retrieved February 26, 2010.
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-0-306-46448-5
    . Retrieved February 27, 2010.
  7. ^ Maugh, Thomas H II (February 24, 2010). "Albert M. Kligman dies at 93; dermatologist developed acne, wrinkle treatments and experimented on prisoners". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
  8. ISBN 978-1-893357-21-1
    .
  9. ISBN 978-1-4200-7285-3
    . Retrieved February 26, 2010.
  10. ISBN 978-0-618-21503-4
    .
  11. ISBN 978-0-7619-2199-8
    .
  12. ISBN 978-0-415-91990-6
    . Retrieved February 27, 2010.

https://www.inquirer.com/politics/philadelphia/philadelphia-apology-holmesburg-prison-experiment-albert-kligman-20221006.html

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