Outrage grows as CDC reportedly poised to fund "unethical" vaccine trial
Ars Technica • • health
Key Points:
- The CDC is planning to fund a controversial hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau involving newborns, despite widespread condemnation and ethical concerns about exposing infants to potential lifelong infection risks.
- The trial, suspended in January after international outcry, would enroll 14,000 newborns, withholding the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine from half to study alleged harms, contradicting established safety and ethical standards.
- The trial is led by Danish researchers Christine Stabell Benn and Peter Aaby, who face allegations of scientific misconduct and whose work has been criticized for fueling anti-vaccine narratives.
- Guinea-Bissau authorities have suspended the trial pending ethical review, and the World Health Organization has condemned it as unethical, emphasizing that withholding proven vaccines violates international research ethics.
- Despite ongoing suspension and criticism, the CDC, under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., appears intent on proceeding once Guinea-Bissau grants final approval, prompting advocacy groups to vow continued opposition.
