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| The Scotsman |
| The Manhattan project mark II |
| Louisa Pearson |
| 01 December 2004 |
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| Like something out of a Gothic horror story, Guinea Pig Kids was an investigation into experimental drug trials conducted on sick children. |
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| 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. |
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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. |
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| Source: The Scotsman |
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