Heinous Eugenics Experiment Keeps Little Ashley "Frozen In Time"
Submitted by MichaelVail on Fri, 01/19/2007 - 3:25pm.
Buffalo News
Posted: Jan 12, 2007
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CHICAGO - Activists are demanding an investigation into the treatment of a severely brain-damaged girl whose growth was deliberately stunted to make it easier for her parents to care for her at home.
Critics want an official condemnation from the American Medical Association, which publishes a medical journal that first reported the Washington State case. They also want state and federal officials to investigate whether doctors violated the 9-year-old girl's rights.
"It is unethical and unacceptable to perform intrusive and invasive medical procedures on a person or child with a disability simply to make the person easier to care for," said Steven Taylor, director of Syracuse University's Center on Human Policy.
Taylor said that the treatment was essentially a medical experiment and that a hospital institutional review board should have been consulted beforehand.
Complaints have been filed with the federal Office for Human Research Protections. But Kristina Borror, a director at the office, said Thursday her agency does not believe the case involved research and, therefore, has no authority to investigate.
The case has prompted an outcry nationwide and abroad since the bedridden girl's parents disclosed details of the treatment last week on a blog.
In 2004, the girl, identified only as Ashley, had surgery in a Seattle hospital to remove her uterus and breast tissue; she also received growth-stunting hormones. She is now 4 foot 5, about a foot shorter than the adult height she probably would have reached, her parents say.
The girl's doctors at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle described the case in October's Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Dr. Richard Molteni, the hospital's medical director, said an institutional review board was not consulted because Ashley's case was not an experiment. He said the hospital firmly believes it acted in her best interest.
The Washington State attorney general's office said it is evaluating a complaint from a New Jersey disabled-rights activist. The state has no laws prohibiting forced sterilization.
Feminist and disabled-rights groups also are demanding an AMA ethics committee look into the case.
Posted: Jan 12, 2007
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CHICAGO - Activists are demanding an investigation into the treatment of a severely brain-damaged girl whose growth was deliberately stunted to make it easier for her parents to care for her at home.Critics want an official condemnation from the American Medical Association, which publishes a medical journal that first reported the Washington State case. They also want state and federal officials to investigate whether doctors violated the 9-year-old girl's rights.
"It is unethical and unacceptable to perform intrusive and invasive medical procedures on a person or child with a disability simply to make the person easier to care for," said Steven Taylor, director of Syracuse University's Center on Human Policy.
Taylor said that the treatment was essentially a medical experiment and that a hospital institutional review board should have been consulted beforehand.
Complaints have been filed with the federal Office for Human Research Protections. But Kristina Borror, a director at the office, said Thursday her agency does not believe the case involved research and, therefore, has no authority to investigate.
The case has prompted an outcry nationwide and abroad since the bedridden girl's parents disclosed details of the treatment last week on a blog.
In 2004, the girl, identified only as Ashley, had surgery in a Seattle hospital to remove her uterus and breast tissue; she also received growth-stunting hormones. She is now 4 foot 5, about a foot shorter than the adult height she probably would have reached, her parents say.
The girl's doctors at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle described the case in October's Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Dr. Richard Molteni, the hospital's medical director, said an institutional review board was not consulted because Ashley's case was not an experiment. He said the hospital firmly believes it acted in her best interest.
The Washington State attorney general's office said it is evaluating a complaint from a New Jersey disabled-rights activist. The state has no laws prohibiting forced sterilization.
Feminist and disabled-rights groups also are demanding an AMA ethics committee look into the case.
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