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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

No surprise Irish babies of single mothers were guinea pigs for drug testing

Posted on Friday, August 20, 2010 at 12:37 PM

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The news that Irish babies in the 1960s born to unmarried mothers were used as guinea pigs in a drug trial without their parent's consent is truly shocking.

But why am I not surprised?

Th level of vitriol and hatred aimed at unmarried mothers back then by the church and state is hard to believe nowadays.

Mari Steed, (50), born to an unmarried mother in Cork, was given up for adoption to a couple in the US shortly afterwards. She says she and others were used a guinea pigs for a vaccine trial.

She claims that a major U.S, drug company GlaxoSmithKline used Irish babies in homes for single mothers run by Catholic orders to experiment with a four in one shot against childhood diseases.

The shots were later found to be less effective than the standard treatment.

"The trials involved incredibly poor judgment on the part of all involved. We were basically used as human guinea pigs" she now says.

She found out when she traced her birth mother and got access to her medical records

Such was the fate of unwed mothers and their children in Holy Catholic Ireland in the 1950s and 1960s.

Drug companies and religious orders singled out the religious homes where the unmarried mothers gave birth then gave the injections to their babies without telling them.

Luckily it appears little damage was done and that the 211 or so children who were guinea pigs have all survived.

They were of course, taken from their disgraced mothers and shipped abroad for adoptions,mostly to wealthy Catholic families here in the U.S.

Over the years my publications have talked to some of those mothers who had their children torn away from their breast literally in some cases.

Almost without exception their lives were darkened and ruined by what happened.

Now comes this claim of even more depravity, that nuns allowed a drug company to essentially experiment on defenseless babies.

Suffer little children -- and shame again on a government and church that allowed such a dreadful thing to happen

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Bryan69 | Dec 16, 2010, 11:03 PM EST

I was born May 19th 1969 @ Good Samartitan in Pottsville,Pa....I was told by family that my mother did not hold or see me for days or weeks after my birth. My biological father abandoned us....whats up w/ that????

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culchiewoman | Sep 01, 2010, 01:39 PM EDT

@jacersisityourself: I'm on a 'scam claim'? That remark is offensive beyond belief. At least you and your mother had a choice to stand in that line and ask questions about your 3-in-1 jabs. My mother wasn't asked for her consent...just told to bring me to the infirmary, period, for 'routine jabs'. And my claim is not financial: it is to seek official answers and an apology from the Irish State, the Sacred Heart order and from GSK. This was an open investigation by the Justice Department from 2001-2006, until it was suddenly shut down by the Dept. of Health because the two original medical researchers from UCD filed an injunction and were deemed 'too elderly and ailing' to testify. What about that don't you get? Niall is simply interpreting what was an extremely-thoroughly researched series of pieces which originally featured in the Independent (Aug. 21-23). If you'd like to dialogue further on my motivations and story, feel free to e-mail me at mari_tee@yahoo.com.

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jacersisityourself | Aug 22, 2010, 07:28 PM EDT

This story doesn't surprise me in the least. As an infants' school kid in the '50s, I remember my mother and her friends being concerned that a Govt rule had been made that all Irish schoolchildren were to be given the 3-in-1 jab for free. I distinctly remember my mother raising her concerns with the school as my sister & I stood beside her in front of the teacher. She was told this would stop us getting future sicknesses and not to worry about it. I disticntly remember too children coming out of the 'jab' room (in the school) with swollen arms as big as a football, a reaction some got. I was terrified, in tears but suffered the jab and fortunately didn't have a swelling reaction. I never got any of the sicknesses it was designed against. This story about the 4-in-1 jab is a bit iffy for my liking... sounds like the nuns were doing what my mother was told to allow for me & my sister. No involvement of the Church, just Govt health protection of its nation's children. We were later given 'booster' jabs in the 60s. I think this lady is on a scam claim. Niall has written total gutter-press stuff above ans should perhaps research a bit more.

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starwatts | Aug 22, 2010, 02:07 PM EDT

Well, stuff like this has been going on since the dawn of time - look at the Tuskegee airmen during WWII. Definitely not saying it's right to do these things, it's not. Kind of a Shocked, but not surprised feeling.

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AmericanPatty | Aug 22, 2010, 11:33 AM EDT

Sick!!! They tested on American soldiers without permission also, and mandated that entire villages in Africa be vaccinated. Why has the world given the United States so much power???

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krisdaly | Aug 22, 2010, 01:10 AM EDT

The crimes authored by the Catholic church against the Irish people is horrific! The Satanic influence in the Vatican is most noticeable in these crimes against the Irish!

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