Ben Crump Alleges Gov’t Used Black Infants in Vaccine Trials

A significant federal lawsuit has been filed, accusing the U.S. government of a deeply disturbing practice: the alleged secret testing of experimental RSV vaccines on Black infants back in the 1960s. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, representing the families of two infants, Ross Otto Hambrick and Victor Marcellus King, claims these trials were conducted without the families’ knowledge or consent.

Allegations of Unethical Vaccine Trials

The lawsuit, filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act, details how the infants were allegedly enrolled in a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored study between 1965 and 1966. Tragically, both infants passed away in January 1967. Attorneys describe the experimental trial, known as “Lot 100,” as dangerous and highly concentrated.

A key, and deeply concerning, allegation is that tissue samples taken during the infants’ autopsies were later used in the development of RSV vaccines that received FDA approval as recently as 2023. This raises profound questions about consent, exploitation, and the long-term impact of historical medical practices.

Seeking Justice and Accountability

According to the press release from Ben Crump Law, neither the Hambrick nor the King families were informed about these alleged experiments for decades. They have reportedly never received compensation or any form of acknowledgment from the federal government regarding the use of their infants’ samples.

The legal team, which includes attorneys William H. Murphy Jr., Carol Lexing Powell, Malcolm P. Ruff, and Nabeha Shaer, is demanding full accountability from the United States government. They aim to secure justice for the Hambrick and King families, highlighting the vulnerability of the infants and the alleged intentional selection of Black infants from low-income backgrounds.

Details of the Lawsuit

• Federal lawsuit filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
• Alleges government secretly used Black infants in experimental RSV vaccine trials in the 1960s.
• Infants allegedly selected from low-income families without parental consent.
• Tissue samples from autopsies allegedly contributed to FDA-approved RSV vaccines (2023).
• Families seeking compensation, acknowledgment, and accountability.

The attorneys were scheduled to discuss the intricate details of the lawsuit at a news conference in Washington, D.C. This case brings to light critical issues surrounding medical ethics, historical injustices, and the ongoing fight for accountability for vulnerable communities.