Compassionate foster NY, Nurse convicted child abuse

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Wed 1 Dec 2004

The Manhattan project mark II

TV REVIEW

LOUISA PEARSON


Guinea Pig Kids BBC 2
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Five

Like something out of a Gothic horror story, Guinea Pig Kids was an
investigation into experimental drug trials conducted on sick children. The
shock factor was that this wasn’t happening in the third world, but in New
York. There was no need for a villainous child-catcher to lure innocents to a
sinister lab, because the medical experiments were being authorised by the
city’s own Administration for Child Services.

The children involved were HIV-positive and living in care homes or with foster
parents in the city. As the documentary explained, there was no evidence that
the drugs in question were prolonging the children’s lives, but there was
evidence that the medicine was causing them pain and distress. The film-makers
seemed to have uncovered something sinister, but unless you were an expert in
medication for HIV, it was difficult to work out exactly who to believe.

When parents refused to give their HIV-positive children medication, these
children were taken into care and the drugs were effectively force-fed. In one
case Jacklyn Hoerger, a nurse who adopted two HIV-positive girls, was convicted
of child abuse for refusing to administer the drugs - even though the girls’
health improved when they were drug-free.

One problem for the viewer was that none of the drug-manufacturers, care homes
or city authorities would agree to be interviewed. This only served to deepen
our suspicions about them, but left us with only one side of the story. What
was going on looked like to a horrible violation of human rights, but there
wasn’t enough evidence to deliver a secure verdict.

descriptors; ACS, ADMINISTRATION CHILDREN SERVICES, NEW YORK, INFORMED CONSENT,
EXPERIMENTATION, HIV AIDS, AIDS, CPS, CHILD PROTECTIVE