ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 4, 1993                   TAG: 9305040194
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: ATLANTA                                LENGTH: Short

REPORT: ESKIMOS GIVEN RADIOACTIVE DRUGS IN TEST

Alaskan Eskimos and Indians were fed radioactive drugs in a 1950s Cold War medical experiment to learn if American soldiers could better survive in the arctic, Cable News Network said Monday.

Doctors hired by the Air Force gave pills containing small amounts of radioactive iodine to 102 Alaskan Eskimos and Indians, measuring the drugs' effect on their thyroid glands, documents obtained by CNN Special Reports showed.

Air Force researchers believe the thyroid gland might hold some clue to how Alaska natives could survive so well during intensely cold arctic winters.

No one knows whether the tests caused the Eskimos to suffer medical ailments, CNN said.

Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, is calling for a federal investigation. - Associated Press 


 by CNB