Southam argued in his defense that he was acting in“the
best tradition of responsible clinical practice.”.
Yet, just a few years later, Southam was elected president of the American Association of Cancer Researchers.
Ultimately, the Regent's board found Southam guilty of fraud,
deceit, and unprofessional conduct, and suspended his medical license for one year.
The NYS Board of Regents found Dr. Southam guilty of fraud,
deceit, and unprofessional conduct, and revoked his license for one year.
Southam wondered whether the delayed response in the cancer patients
was because they had cancer or because they were elderly and already debilitated.
Eventually, the New York State Board of Regents
reviewed the case in order to decide if Southam should be able to continue to practice medicine.
Eventually, the New York State
Board of Regents reviewed the case in order to decide if Southam should be able to continue to practice medicine.
To address these possibilities, Southam decided to inject live cancer cells into a group
of people who were elderly and debilitated but who did not have cancer.
On July 16, 1963, Southam and two colleagues injected live cancer cells
into the bodies of 22 debilitated patients at the Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital in New York.
On July 16, 1963, Southam and two colleagues injected live cancer cells into the bodies
of 22 debilitated patients at the Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital in New York.
In earlier research, Southam had found that healthy volunteers were
able to reject injected cancer cells in roughly four to six weeks, whereas it took patients who already had cancer much longer.
When word of the study spread, triggered in part by the resignation of three physicians who were asked to participate, some
made comparisons to Nazi concentration camp Experiments, but others- based in part on assurances by Southam- found the research unproblematic.