Loma Linda Doctors Defend Human Study
L O M A L I N D A, Nov. 29 -- Doctors doing a study of a toxic water pollutant defended feeding it to human participants, saying the potential medical benefit outweighed the risk.
The Loma Linda University Medical Center researchers held a news conferenceTuesday to respond to media reports raising concerns about people beinggiven doses of perchlorate, a chemical used in rocket fuel that hascontaminated ground water in parts of Southern California.
The hospital’s institutional review board, which oversees clinical trials,concluded that participants would face minimal risk. Researchers said theperchlorate doses being given in the study are about 100 times lower thanthose given to people who are prescribed perchlorate for thyroid illnesses.
Dr. Anthony Firek, the study’s principal investigator, said the dosages arealso lower than those given in a study published earlier this year byHarvard University. Nine men received 10 milligrams of perchlorate daily inthat study.
Loma Linda researchers are giving participants doses ranging from ahalf-milligram to three milligrams. Half of the participants get placebos.
Doses Exceed Drinking Water Limits
But the daily doses in the Loma Linda study are still up to 83 times higherthan drinking-water limits for perchlorate recommended by California’sDepartment of Health Services.
Dr. William Saukel, chairman of Loma Linda’s review board, said the studylikely will produce information beneficial to the population as a whole.
So far, just eight people have enrolled in the study, which began in earlyOctober. Researchers hope to eventually enroll 100 people who each will bepaid $1,000 for seven months of participation.
Participants are informed of the risks of the research, which include bonemarrow suppression, lessening of white and red blood cell counts and thyroidproblems.
Lockheed Martin — which faces hundreds of lawsuits accusing it of creatingperchlorate pollution and threatening the health of San Bernardino andRiverside counties’ residents — is paying for the study. The aerospacecompany’s officials have said the study will help determine the health riskof perchlorate.
