7. Prisoners Were Injected With Agent Orange
Agent Orange is a powerful herbicide, invented by the Dow chemical company; the United States military utilized it during the Vietnam War. The dense jungles of Vietnam were causing problems for the soldiers who were trying to get around the country, so the solution was to kill off as many plants as possible. The consequences of the heavy use of Agent Orange include severe congenital disabilities and other physical ailments that are still being experienced by the Vietnamese people who were exposed to it.
The harmful effects of Agent Orange were probably known before it was sprayed profusely in the jungles of Vietnam, thanks to the fact that Dr. Albert Kligman was paid $10,000 by Dow to test dioxin, the active ingredient in Agent Orange, on 75 prisoners at Pennsylvania’s Holmesburg prison. Those records were not kept or were destroyed, as efforts to identify the subjects during the 1980s were unsuccessful. However, inmates who were subjects in Dr. Kligman’s skin experiments showed extensive skin problems, including scarring and rashes, for years to come.
Dr. Kligman went on to develop Retin-A, which is used today to treat acne and other skin conditions. One might conclude that he was rewarded for the crimes he committed against prisoners, but his name lives in infamy.