Sentenced to Science: One Black Man's Story of Imprisonment in America [Hardcover]

Allen M. Hornblum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2007

From 1951 until 1974, Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia was the site of thousands of experiments on prisoners conducted by researchers under the direction of University of Pennsylvania dermatologist Albert M. Kligman. While most of the experiments were testing cosmetics, detergents, and deodorants, the trials also included scores of Phase I drug trials, inoculations of radioactive isotopes, and applications of dioxin, in addition to mind-control experiments for the Army and CIA. These experiments often left the subject-prisoners, mostly African Americans, in excruciating pain and had long-term debilitating effects on their health. This is one among many episodes of the sordid history of medical experimentation on the black population of the United States.

The story of the Holmesburg trials was documented by Allen Hornblum in his 1998 book Acres of Skin. The more general history of African Americans as human guinea pigs has most recently been told by Harriet Washington in her 2007 book Medical Apartheid. The subject is currently a topic of heated public debate in the wake of a 2006 report from an influential panel of medical experts recommending that the federal government loosen the regulations in place since the 1970s that have limited the testing of pharmaceuticals on prison inmates.

Sentenced to Science retells the story of the Holmesburg experiments more dramatically through the eyes of one black man, Edward "Butch" Anthony, who suffered greatly from the experiments for which he "volunteered" during multiple terms at the prison. This is not only one black man's highly personal account of what it was like to be an imprisoned test subject, but also a sobering reminder that there were many African Americans caught in the viselike grip of a scientific research community willing to bend any code of ethics in order to accomplish its goals and a criminal justice system that sold prisoners to the highest bidder.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Sentenced to Science is a searing indictment of the criminal justice and medical communities that cavalierly used Philadelphia inmates as human guinea pigs for an array of unethical and dangerous experiments. The account of Eddie Anthony's days as a Holmesburg Prison test subject is one that readers will not soon forget." --Jeffrey Ian Ross, University of Baltimore, co-author of Behind Bars: Surviving Prison and co-editor of Convict Criminology

"Sentenced to Science is a disturbing account of the physical and psychological sequelae of medical experimentation in a state prison in Philadelphia in the 1960s. Hornblum follows the troubled life of one prisoner, Butch, and draws heavily on the inmate's compelling first-person narrative. Given the current debate about the future of prison research, this book should be prescribed reading for bioethicists and policymakers alike." --Jonathan H. Marks, Director, Bioethics and Medical Humanities Program, Penn State University

"Allen Hornblum 's book is a first for understanding the pain and suffering endured by prisoners at Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia in their own anguished words. Every physician participating in human experimentation must read this book to learn of the fundamental violation of the human rights of prisoner subjects described so powerfully in this book." --Michael J. Franzblau, Clinical Professor of Dermatology, University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco

About the Author

Allen M. Hornblum is Assistant Professor of Geography and Urban Studies at Temple University. He is the author of Confessions of a Second Story Man: Junior Kripplebauer and the K&A Gang (2005) and Acres of Skin: Human Experiments at Holmesburg Prison: A True Story of Abuse and Exploitation in the Name of Medical Science (1998).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 207 pages
• Publisher: Penn State University Press (December 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0271033363
• ISBN-13: 978-0271033365
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #583,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #100 in Books > Law > Perspectives on Law > Science & Technology

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Story that should have been written a long time ago., November 2, 2007

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GJD - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sentenced to Science: One Black Man's Story of Imprisonment in America (Hardcover)

Sentenced to Science, written by Allen Hornblum tells the first hand account of Butch Anthony's experience at Holmesburg as a human "guinea pig " in the 1960's. Despite decades of unethical prisoner experimentation after World War II, Sentenced to Science is probably the only book written from a test subject's perspective. A story captured in Sentenced to Science that would have otherwise been lost in history due to the aging of the subjects from this tragic research era on vulnerable populations.
Hornblum, through the narrative of Butch, gives a perspective of the incarcerated human research volunteer. As Butch describes prison life, his reasoning for volunteering as a subject becomes obvious. Butch believed that he was volunteering for safe and easy experiments and would make a quick and lucrative income as a human guinea pig. As he quickly found out, the inducement of money was not worth the pain and suffering of the trials.
Butch describes an array of experiments that he participated. One trial he was told was an innocuous bubble bath test. Despite being as Butch describes "a functional illiterate", he signed a "consent" and volunteered for the test that would pay him thirty-seven dollars for a few weeks of trials. Though the test sounded safe and easy, he found out within minutes the horrible side effects he had to endure. Upon being sent back to his cell, he was nauseous, had a bitter taste and passed out before he made it to his cellblock. The next day, he noted, "Large blisters the size of nickels and filled with pus had formed where the patches had been." Though being in pain, Butch continued the test for as long as possible for the lure of thirty-seven dollars.
Sentenced to Science is a lesson in medical ethics, social and criminal justice and behavior. Mr. Anthony describes the pressures of conforming to a prison system that involves sexual abuse, gangs, drugs and violence. In the final chapters, Butch reflects on the path that he chose in order to transform his life for the better.
As a grad student in health care ethics, I recommend this book as a must read. Especially in light of renewed interests from researchers to conduct trials in prisons in 2007.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Story, But Irrelevant, January 22, 2008

By 

thehobbitgirl (Dayton, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sentenced to Science: One Black Man's Story of Imprisonment in America (Hardcover)

This book is great. Don't think that it's not. It tells of the hardships that the Black community of America goes through and what they've had to go through. It tells of the unfairness of the prison system and how horrible those places really are. Just reading about the raping and the Nation of Islam bullies are enough to get your skin crawling. But I wanted to read a book about the horrors of the science aspect.

Although the author does tell the story of this man's horror with the "U of P" it's minimal at best. The story focuses more on his challenges to overcome drugs and to stop hurting his family.

Like I said, a great and worthy read. It's just not about the science as you would think it might be.

0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars ACRES OF TEDIUM, April 10, 2008

By 

PhiladelphiaCritic (Philadelphia United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sentenced to Science: One Black Man's Story of Imprisonment in America (Hardcover)

This irritating little tome is an irrelevant echo of Hornblum's previously written Acres of Skin. Eddie Anthony's simple-minded escapades provide neither insight into the issue of prisoner experimentation nor entertainment. This book could more aptly have been titled Acres of Tedium.