Outrage has erupted among health experts following news that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is still eager to fund a widely condemned vaccine trial that would expose newborns in Guinea-Bissau to hepatitis B, putting them at high risk of lifelong infection, potentially leading to liver cirrhosis, liver cancer and premature death.
The trial was suspended in January after its unethical design was exposed and sparked an international outcry. Although the trial is still on hold, staff in the CDC director’s office asked the agency’s budget office in late September to set aside $1.6 million to fund the trial, according to a Rolling Stone report. The money was to come from funding the CDC’s global health security programs, which otherwise could go toward efforts such as combating the Ebola outbreak currently plaguing the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC, did not respond to a request for comment from Ars Technica.
If the trial moves forward, it will be funded by the United States but led by Danish researchers, who have been separately accused of misconduct. In December, the CDC announced the award of a $1.6 million unsolicited grant to a research group at the University of Southern Denmark, led by married couple Christine Stabell Benn and Peter Aaby. The two men produced numerous studies promoted by anti-vaccine advocates, sparking concern and criticism from researchers. Stabell Benn and Aaby are currently under investigation by Danish authorities over allegations of “falsification” and “scientific misconduct” related to previous vaccine research.
In January, amid criticism of the trial, Guinea-Bissau officials said they had suspended the research, saying ethical and technical reviews of the trial design were ongoing. “There was not sufficient coordination to make a final decision regarding the study,” Quinhin Nantote, Guinea-Bissau’s Minister of Public Health, said at the time. “Faced with this situation, we have decided to suspend it.”
Gn Health
