Phillips heard about the first cases, and, as usual,
the rumors about their severity were far worse
than the facts. The men were delirious, rumor said.
Phillips was glad he hadn't written his girl friend
and guardian about his decision. And with each
passing day, he was more assured he'd taken only
distilled water in his arm.
After four weeks, he was positive enough to be
gin wry jokes about a subject he had been unchar
acteristically serious about before. He kidded
quietly about wanting to be a hero for his girl,
being a benefactor of humanity, getting a red carpet
before the parole board.
When he went to his job in the shoeshop one
morning, he felt a sense of relief and, he admits,
a pang of conscience at being so happy that some
body else "had taken the real stuff."
Before the noon break, Phillips felt a sharp
About half those receiving the hepatitis virus
were hospitalized, the others evidently having a
natural immunity.
Sanders and Cotter were typical in that their
worst illness lasted about three days. Both suffered
prolonged vomiting spells that left them weak;
their temperatures ranged between 100 and 102,
and all appetite was lost.
The volunteers had been warned that there is
no cure for hepatitis. For at least a week, they
would be able to hold only citrus juices, vitamins,
and aspirin. Afterward, they would spend three to
four weeks in slow, uncomfortable recovery. Each
volunteer, however, had undergone extensive phys
ical examination to make sure he could withstand
the attack on his liver cells.
Cotter, just coming out of the worst part of his
illness, remembers looking around rather hazily
1 T -
Ill i ;;iLz
Ji I I rll ! I - -."' 3C".
R 11 jLJ. I f it r. ,
I M l
n m
m. i is
r t - -" ... .. .. - ' ' i ' r - . . ..
I'Ji". ,'.. s
i
- 5
. 1 m
... a
Convicts ivho voluntarily suffered hepatitis undergo postrecovery tests; some 175 took part in study.
shooting pain behind his forehead. He counted the
days since his inoculation 29. The meal that noon
was steamy and pungent, the kind he usually rel
ished. But not today. Still, he thought, 29 days must
be too long for hepatitis.
Typically, the symptoms disappeared that after
noon, and Phillips was convinced he'd just scared
himself into feeling ill. But that night he broke
into a sweat and felt nauseous.
Wednesday, fever and loss of appetite reappeared
and then vanished. On Thursday, the onslaught
came again and stayed. I've got it all right, Phillips
told himself, but if it's this late it must be a weak
case. He remembered that Doctor Boggs had said
some volunteers who received the virus might build
up protective antibodies in their blood, much as in
the case of a smallpox vaccination. That was it
I've got one of those side reactions, Phillips decided.
His cell mate found him Friday morning, lying '
drenched in his bunk. "Get out of here, Willy," he .
said. "I don't want a stiff on my hands."
Phillips gave up the pretense and went on sick
calL The nurse took his temperature. It was 104.8.
and seeing a form sprawled in the next bed. It was
Phillips. As weak as he was, Cotter's interest rose.
The jaundice symptoms were marked on Phillips.
"You've turned yellow," Cotter said.
"I feel all green," Phillips replied. Attendants
had affixed a glucose bottle to him for intravenous
feeding the first day. He stared at the contraption
and wondered if he should ask a nurse to write his
girl. He would doze off for a while, but nausea
would awaken him. The vomiting was violent and
perspiration steady.
Doctor Boggs and an associate appeared at his
side the next morning and ordered him off glucose.
"It's just juices for a long time," he said. He exam
ined Phillips' eyes and probed his right side.
"You'll come out of it fine."
That seemed hardly possible to Phillips at the
time. Whether their attacks were mild or severe,
each of the volunteers recalled a common reaction:
they could hear Doctor Boggs' initial words to
them, warning of the possibility of danger in deal
ing with relative unknowns. They forgot their
motives for volunteering possible parole help, an
escape from boredom, the desire to help people
"on the outside," or mostly a combination of all
and found themselves praying only that this was
temporary, that they'd get their health back.
However, in all cases the experiment followed
the expected pattern. These cases, and the ones be
fore (a total of 40 illnesses in all experiments)
positively identified two strains of virus and prob
ably a third.
The two types of virus used on the volunteers
seemed to have caused infectious hepatitis, the
most prevalent type. It probably is spread by poor
sanitation and hygiene. The third isolated virus
may cause serum hepatitis, the most deadly type.
It is usually transmitted through the blood by
transfusion, for example. Now, with the virus most
closely identified, blood donors can be checked
more accurately for traces of the virus.
Phillips Loms 16 Pound
"The more I got hungry, the less I got scared,"
says Will Phillips in telling about his recovery.
But it was 10 days before he could finally keep a
meal down. By that time he had lost 16 pounds,
and it was almost two weeks before he could walk
steadily. Like Sanders, Cotter, Yeagley, and other
volunteers, Phillips required four to five weeks of
hospitalization, despite the best possible medical
care. "Even the boredom of a cell seemed better
after that," one told a nurse.
When they were dismissed, each volunteer was
assured his system had returned to normal.
The experiments proved that research had iso
lated the basic ingredients of a successful hepatitis
vaccine. The next step for the Boggs team is to test
the viruses further in order to determine the safest,
most effective composition for a possible vaccine.
They also must learn its long-range effects
whether, for example, a vaccinated person could
infect an unvaccinated one. But the first step to
ward an antihepatitis vaccine is in the past
As for the "human guinea pigs," another test
came last July. The first of their number went be
fore the parole board. In his file folder was the
promised letter from Dr. Boggs. The 175 men who
participated in the over-all experiment waited for
word as if each was up for examination. When word
came, it was disappointing. Parole denied.
The volunteer, interviewed shortly after, was
bitter. "They promised us help, and they didn't
come through," he said.
But a sampling of the others indicated a differ
ent feeling. "It's like when you're sick," said Phil
lips, explaining his covolunteer's anger. "You say
things that aren't exactly so, and later you know it
Nobody I know says they have regrets. It probably
did somebody some good."
Th Doctor Views the Convict-Volunteer
My use of pruon volun
teers to fight disease is not
something new. In the past,
numerous medical studies
have been aided by these
men studies which have
led to new Knowledge o; I in. I
cancer, malaria, tubercuto- IhsVJc hJI
sis, and hepatitis. We of the medical profession
are deeply indebted to these men for their help
and trust. In the future, as m the past, their
actions may contribute greatly to the welfare of
aU mankind. Joseph D. Boggs, M. D.
The Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago
Family Weekly, October t. 1MI
S