HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Albert Montgomery Kligman (March 17, 1916 – February 9, 2010) was an American
dermatologist Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medica ...
who co-invented Retin-A, the acne medication, with James Fulton in 1969. Kligman performed human experiments on inmates at
Holmesburg Prison Holmesburg Prison, given the nickname "The Terrordome," was a prison operated by the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Department of Prisons (PDP) from 1896 to 1995. The facility is located at 8215 Torresdale Ave in the ...
in Philadelphia. Scandal followed years later. The experiments intentionally exposed humans to pathogens and the chemical warfare agent dioxin, and later became a textbook example of unethical experimenting on humans. He and others involved were sued for alleged injuries, but the lawsuit was dismissed due to the
statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...
expiring.


Biography

Albert Montgomery Kligman was born in Philadelphia on March 17, 1916, the son of Jewish immigrants. His father, born in Ukraine, was a newspaper distributor; his mother, born in England, was a sales clerk. As a child, he was a Boy Scout, developing a love of plants on scouting trips to the countryside. With financial support from Simon Greenberg, a major rabbi of the time, he attended Pennsylvania State University, earning a bachelor's degree in 1939. He was captain of the gymnastics team. He went on to receive a Ph.D. in
botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
from the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
in 1942, specializing in the study of fungi. He continued at the University of Pennsylvania, enrolling in its medical school, earning his
M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. ...
in 1947. He chose dermatology as his specialty in order to apply his expertise in fungi. Upon graduation, he joined the dermatology faculty as an associate, also signing on at the
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) is the flagship hospital of Penn Medicine and is located in the University City section of West Philadelphia. It is consistently ranked as one of the top hospitals in the United States. Histor ...
.


Scholarship and inventions

Kligman was a prolific scholar and was known for bringing scientific rigor to a field that, at the time, was lacking it. Kligman wrote numerous papers on run-of-the-mill dermatological conditions such as
athlete's foot Athlete's foot, known medically as ''tinea pedis'', is a common skin infection of the feet caused by a fungus. Signs and symptoms often include itching, scaling, cracking and redness. In rare cases the skin may blister. Athlete's foot fungus ...
and
dandruff Dandruff is a skin condition that mainly affects the scalp. Symptoms include flaking and sometimes mild itchiness. It can result in social or self-esteem problems. A more severe form of the condition, which includes inflammation of the skin, ...
. He also worked at the intersection of cosmetics and medicine. The identification of the use of
tretinoin Tretinoin, also known as all-''trans'' retinoic acid (ATRA), is a medication used for the treatment of acne and acute promyelocytic leukemia. For acne, it is applied to the skin as a cream, gel or ointment. For leukemia, it is taken by mouth ...
along Dr. James E. Fulton and Dr. Gerd Plewig as a treatment for
acne Acne, also known as ''acne vulgaris'', is a long-term skin condition that occurs when dead skin cells and oil from the skin clog hair follicles. Typical features of the condition include blackheads or whiteheads, pimples, oily skin, and ...
and wrinkles was perhaps their best-known contribution to dermatology. Sold as Retin-A, this innovation earned Kligman significant royalties. He was a generous supporter of the department of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania and donated over $4 million by 1998.


Unethical dermatological experiments

Kligman is best known for having conducted human experiments on prisoners at
Holmesburg Prison Holmesburg Prison, given the nickname "The Terrordome," was a prison operated by the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Department of Prisons (PDP) from 1896 to 1995. The facility is located at 8215 Torresdale Ave in the ...
in Philadelphia. Stemming from early testing of treatments for
ringworm Dermatophytosis, also known as ringworm, is a fungal infection of the skin. Typically it results in a red, itchy, scaly, circular rash. Hair loss may occur in the area affected. Symptoms begin four to fourteen days after exposure. Multiple ar ...
, his work there started with an effort to control athlete's foot at the invitation of prison officials. He found the environment fraught with possibilities, and undertook dozens of experiments there for pharmaceutical companies and government agencies. Between 1951 and 1974, Kligman exposed approximately seventy-five prisoners at Holmesburg to high doses of dioxin, the contaminant responsible for Agent Orange's toxicity. Dow Chemical paid Kligman $10,000 to conduct the experiments on the toxicity effects of this chemical warfare agent. Prisoners were awarded for participation, their primary source of income, in 1959 acquiring in total $73,000 in by volunteering to test pills and creams. Little effort was taken to assure the safety of the test subjects, some of whom were intentionally exposed to pathogens causing infections, including
herpes Herpes simplex is a viral infection caused by the herpes simplex virus. Infections are categorized based on the part of the body infected. Oral herpes involves the face or mouth. It may result in small blisters in groups often called cold ...
, staphylococcus, and athlete's foot. Moreover, Kligman's payment of subjects had other unintended consequences: the economic power gained by subjects was used by some of them to "coerce sexual favors from other inmates". Kligman's prisoner testing for the government was not limited to dermatology, extending even to the testing of psychoactive drugs for the
Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...
. While Kligman maintained that the testing was consistent with scientific and ethical norms of the era, nearly 300 subjects tested while in prison sued him, the University of Pennsylvania, and Johnson & Johnson. The lawsuit was brought because of violations of the
Nuremberg Code The Nuremberg Code (german: Nürnberger Kodex) is a set of ethical research principles for human experimentation created by the court in '' U.S. v Brandt'', one of the Subsequent Nuremberg trials that were held after the Second World War. Tho ...
. Though the suit was dismissed under the
statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...
, the public reaction to the testing program contributed to the enactment of federal regulations restricting medical studies in prisons. Later commentators, including Senator
Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...
, remarked how, in spite of the sets of ethical principles laid out in the 1947 Nuremberg Code and (much later) the
Declaration of Helsinki The Declaration of Helsinki (DoH, fi, Helsingin julistus, sv, Helsingforsdeklarationen) is a set of ethical principles regarding human experimentation developed originally in 1964 for the medical community by the World Medical Association (WMA) ...
, the poorer members of society typically bore the brunt of unethical biomedical research; Kligman's research at Holmesburg prison has become a textbook example of such unethical experimenting, and has been denounced as equivalent to "the barbarity and sadism of Auschwitz and Dachau." Beyond the controversies relating to the testing on prisoners, Kligman was found to have discrepancies in the data underlying his experiments. This led to his research being barred by the
Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...
for a period.


Personal life

Kligman was married three times. He divorced from his first wife and became a widower from his second. He died of a heart attack in February, 2010, at age 93. He was survived by his third wife.


See also

* '' Acres of Skin: Human Experiments at Holmesburg Prison'', an account of Kligman's Holmesburg experiments. *
Human experimentation in the United States Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, a ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kligman, Albert M. 1916 births 2010 deaths American dermatologists Jewish American scientists Pennsylvania State University alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni University of Pennsylvania faculty American medical researchers Medical controversies in the United States Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni 21st-century American Jews https://www.inquirer.com/politics/philadelphia/philadelphia-apology-holmesburg-prison-experiment-albert-kligman-20221006.html