Demand Kathleen Sebelius Apologize to Parents of Babies Endangered in Study

Tell Health and Human Services Secretary to Apologize for Unethical Experiment that Exposed Premature Infants to Risk of Death and Blindness and Prevent Similar Failures in the Future

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius should personally apologize to the parents of 1,316 premature infants who were exposed to increased risk of blindness and death as part of a clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health and held throughout the U.S. several years ago because they were not informed of the risks to their babies or the true nature and purpose of the research.

Add Your Name to the Petition to Secretary Sebelius


We, the undersigned, call on you to apologize to each of the parents of the premature infants enrolled in the unethical trial at 23 U.S. medical centers. This apology should be accompanied by a complete divulgence of the previously undisclosed information regarding the nature, purpose, and risks of the research.

We also urge you to take the following actions:

  • Direct the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) to require each participating institution to submit corrective action for avoiding such serious deficiencies in the consent process for future research.
  • Launch an independent investigation into how the HHS system for review and oversight of clinical trials failed so miserably. This should include an assessment of all entities within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or other HHS agencies that played a role in the review, approval and funding of the study.
  • Determine what system-wide actions are necessary to prevent similar future failures.
  • Identify and suspend any similarly unethical ongoing research involving premature infants that is funded by NIH or any other HHS agency.

Spread the Word


share on Facebook

Background


The trial, known as the SUPPORT study, was conducted between 2005 and 2009 at 23 prominent research facilities throughout the country, including the Stanford University School of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, Brown University, Duke University and University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Learn More


Optional Member Code


1-25 of 16854 signatures
Number Date Name Add a comment
16854 Wed Apr 16 15:12:26 EDT 2014 Francine Harvey Its clear that Obamacare is not about caring. Obama "Death Panels" for infants or at best blindness inducing NAZI like experiments. Maybe lampshades can be made from the skin of the dead babies and sold More....
16853 Sat Apr 12 16:36:23 EDT 2014 chris flood
16852 Mon Apr 07 14:39:03 EDT 2014 Alexis Maestre-Saborit The Health in United States is Businees,Poor People is only Segregation.
16851 Wed Mar 26 21:13:33 EDT 2014 Donna Zoll How low can you go?
16850 Fri Mar 21 11:05:06 EDT 2014 Alice Weston Apologies are not adequate. Start with an independent investigation, and firing of Sebelius for the disasterous Obamacare that treats health care as a commodity, not a human right and public good.
16849 Fri Mar 21 10:39:47 EDT 2014 Laurey Morris Get rid of the individual insurance mandate. Open,improve and expand Medicare for All citizens, include midwifery, vision, heairng, dental and long-term care, and complimentary medicine. Break the chain More....
16848 Thu Mar 20 10:23:52 EDT 2014 Rhiannon Maher As a former premie I can't believe babies we're put it further danger apologize
16847 Wed Mar 19 18:20:16 EDT 2014 Vincent Licitra In trying to do good, often you end up making things worse. These concerns must be properly weighed. Please show some humility and give back some dignity to people who've been harmed.
16846 Wed Mar 19 18:20:02 EDT 2014 Vincent Licitra In trying to do good, often you end up making things worse. These concerns must be properly weighed. Please show some humility and give back some dignity to people who've been harmed.
16845 Tue Mar 18 17:04:18 EDT 2014 Lisa Woods Again this is just the beginning of what needs to be apologized about & then Do Something. Make those names listed do something about it - fix what is broken- get those losers out of power! Make people More....
16844 Sat Mar 15 14:04:33 EDT 2014 Anonymous
16843 Sat Mar 15 09:56:29 EDT 2014 Anonymous How about admitting what a disaster Obamacare is, and that it is a bailout for insurance?Pharma/medical suppliers etc. The ACA-Obamacare has added more administrative waste, bureacracy,phony advertising, More....
16842 Sat Mar 15 09:40:10 EDT 2014 Shiu Hung Sebelius ought to be fired., Obamacare- (ACA) is a fraud. We need genuine comprehensive health care, not over-priced, unaffordable, inadequate, and defective insurance products. Eliminate the More....
16841 Tue Mar 04 14:15:23 EST 2014 Paul La Chance
16840 Tue Feb 25 23:06:35 EST 2014 Debbie Jones
16839 Tue Feb 25 01:15:09 EST 2014 Anonymous This needs to be corrected.
16838 Mon Feb 24 09:26:38 EST 2014 Susan Sanocki
16837 Fri Feb 21 16:52:24 EST 2014 vicki bianchi
16836 Wed Feb 19 23:47:21 EST 2014 Shlomo Nessim
16835 Tue Feb 18 21:27:53 EST 2014 Kenneth Hall
16834 Sun Feb 02 08:08:15 EST 2014 rose petal
16833 Thu Jan 30 16:39:20 EST 2014 kevin corbin
16832 Sat Jan 25 16:06:37 EST 2014 Barry Spielvogel
16831 Sat Jan 25 14:36:07 EST 2014 Thomas Connor
16830 Thu Jan 23 19:03:18 EST 2014 Robert Frazier
Next ->

Copyright © 2014 Public Citizen. All rights reserved. This Web site is shared by Public Citizen Inc. and Public Citizen Foundation.
Learn More about the distinction between these two components of Public Citizen.


Public Citizen, Inc. and Public Citizen Foundation

Together, two separate corporate entities called Public Citizen, Inc. and Public Citizen Foundation, Inc., form Public Citizen. Both entities are part of the same overall organization, and this Web site refers to the two organizations collectively as Public Citizen.

Although the work of the two components overlaps, some activities are done by one component and not the other. The primary distinction is with respect to lobbying activity. Public Citizen, Inc., an IRS § 501(c)(4) entity, lobbies Congress to advance Public Citizen’s mission of protecting public health and safety, advancing government transparency, and urging corporate accountability. Public Citizen Foundation, however, is an IRS § 501(c)(3) organization. Accordingly, its ability to engage in lobbying is limited by federal law, but it may receive donations that are tax-deductible by the contributor. Public Citizen Inc. does most of the lobbying activity discussed on the Public Citizen Web site. Public Citizen Foundation performs most of the litigation and education activities discussed on the Web site.

You may make a contribution to Public Citizen, Inc., Public Citizen Foundation, or both. Contributions to both organizations are used to support our public interest work. However, each Public Citizen component will use only the funds contributed directly to it to carry out the activities it conducts as part of Public Citizen’s mission. Only gifts to the Foundation are tax-deductible. Individuals who want to join Public Citizen should make a contribution to Public Citizen, Inc., which will not be tax deductible.

To become a member of Public Citizen, click here.
To become a member and make an additional tax-deductible donation to Public Citizen Foundation, click here.