Clarence Chancelum Lushbaugh, Jr. (March 15, 1916 – October 13, 2000) was an American physician and
pathologist
Pathology is the study of the causal, causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when us ...
. He was considered an expert in radiological accidents and injuries,
as well as a pioneer in radiation safety research, and he is known for his controversial research involving
human subjects.
Lushbaugh started his career in 1939 as a professor in the Department of Pathology at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
, while he was working towards his Ph.D. His early medical research was directed by the onset of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and resulted in the discovery of the
chemotherapeutic
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...
potential of compounds being tested as
chemical weapon
A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as a ...
s. After completing his
medical degree
A medical degree is a professional degree admitted to those who have passed coursework in the fields of medicine and/or surgery from an accredited medical school. Obtaining a degree in medicine allows for the recipient to continue on into special ...
from the school in 1948, he joined the
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...
as a pathologist, and began to develop expertise applying the science to victims of radiological accidents.
What became known as the Los Alamos Human Tissue Analysis Program began in 1958 after Lushbaugh performed an autopsy on the body of
Cecil Kelley, who died of radiation-induced
heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
following a
criticality accident
A criticality accident is an accidental uncontrolled nuclear fission chain reaction. It is sometimes referred to as a critical excursion, critical power excursion, or divergent chain reaction. Any such event involves the unintended accumulation ...
at Los Alamos. Lushbaugh identified an opportunity to analyze Kelley's remains to confirm or improve Los Alamos safety procedures concerning radiation exposure. To this end, Lushbaugh extracted some of the irradiated organs and tissues from Kelley for analysis, eventuating the development of safer radiation exposure limits. The propriety of the removal of Kelley's organs was eventually called into question, and his daughter filed a successful lawsuit against Lushbaugh and Los Alamos to this end in 1996.
Lushbaugh's career continued at the Medical and Health Sciences Division of
Oak Ridge Associated Universities
Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) is a consortium of American universities headquartered in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, with offices in Arlington, Virginia, Arvada, Colorado, Belcamp, Maryland, Cincinnati, Ohio and staff at other locations acro ...
, where he was brought on to lead several scientific endeavors, most notably the Total Body Irradiation Program, an experimental program designed to determine the limits at which exposure to radiation would begin to cause radiation sickness. Though the goals of the program were to improve radiation safety protocols, they became controversial due to the fact that the test subjects did not know they were being subjected to the radiation, which was administered in specialized chambers disguised as waiting rooms. Lushbaugh became Chairman of the Division and helped found the Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site (REAC/TS), an organization that serves as a major emergency response consultant for the
Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rel ...
.
Early life and education
Clarence Chancelum Lushbaugh, Jr.
was born on March 15, 1916, in
Covington, Kentucky
Covington is a list of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, Kenton County, Kentucky, United States, located at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Licking River (Kentucky), Licking Rivers. Cincinnati, Ohio, ...
. His father, Clarence Lushbaugh, Sr., was a railroad freight worker who died after contracting the
Spanish flu
The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...
in 1918.
Lushbaugh attended
Walnut Hills High School
, streetaddress = 3250 Victory Parkway
, city = Cincinnati
, state = Ohio
, zipcode = 45207
, country = United States
, coordinates =
, type ...
in Cincinnati, Ohio, near where he grew up.
As a child, he was an excellent student, and was elected class president during his senior year, beating out fellow student and future colleague
Eugene Saenger
Eugene Saenger (March 5, 1917 – September 30, 2007)Thomas H. Maugh"Eugene Saenger, 90; pioneer in radiation research"''Los Angeles Times'', October 6, 2007 was an American university professor and physician. A graduate of Harvard University, ...
.
He was also an avid participant in the
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...
.
He enrolled at the
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...
, where he studied for three years before moving in 1937 to the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
, finishing his bachelor's degree in anatomy in 1938.
Academic career
After graduation, he was given a
fellowship
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
at the University of Chicago medical school,
though at the time was undecided regarding the pursuit of a medical degree.
He instead pursued a Ph.D in
experimental pathology
Experimental pathology, also known as investigative pathology, is the scientific study of disease processes through the microscopic or molecular examination of organs, tissues, cells, or body fluids from diseased organisms. It is closely related ...
, and as a fellow also worked as an instructor and assistant professor in the Department of Pathology.
During the course of his graduate studies at the University of Chicago medical school, he worked closely with Paul Steiner, a professor in the Department of Pathology.
The two published the results of a study in which they describe the condition of
amniotic fluid embolism
An amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) is a very uncommon childbirth ( obstetric) emergency in which amniotic fluid enters the blood stream of the mother, triggering a serious reaction, which results in cardiorespiratory (heart and lung) collapse and ...
based on a case study of eight autopsies of pregnant women who died suddenly during childbirth.
Though the complication was originally described in 1926 by J. R. Meyer at the
University of São Paulo
The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the best ...
, Lushbaugh and Steiner's 1941 report was considered a landmark publication that enabled widespread recognition of the diagnosis within the medical community. It was eventually republished as such in the ''
Journal of the American Medical Association
''The Journal of the American Medical Association'' (''JAMA'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of bio ...
''.
Lushbaugh completed his doctoral program in 1942.
His thesis, titled ''The Effect of Alcoholic Intoxication Upon Acquired Resistance to Pneumococcal Infection in Rabbits'', was published the following year in the ''
Journal of Immunology
The ''Journal of Immunology'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed medical journal that publishes basic and clinical studies in all aspects of immunology. Established in 1916, it changed its name to ''Journal of Immunology, Virus Research and Experimental C ...
''. Following this, he joined the faculty of the University as a pathologist and pathology professor.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, his research efforts were structured by the war effort, and he worked within the university's
toxicology
Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating expo ...
laboratory, researching nerve agents for use as chemical weapons in the war effort, research which employed various animals as test subjects. With his advisor
Franklin C. McLean
Franklin Chambers McLean (1888 - September 10, 1968) was a Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medicine and the first appointed Director of the University of Chicago Medical Clinics, as well as the founder of the National Medical Fellowsh ...
, he explored the use of
nitrogen mustards
Nitrogen mustards are cytotoxic organic compounds with the chloroethylamine (Cl(CH2)2NR2) functional group. Although originally produced as chemical warfare agents, they were the first chemotherapeutic agents for treatment of cancer. Nitrogen m ...
for this purpose, later determining that their lymphotoxic properties had potential
chemotherapeutic
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...
applications. He received credit on a study that explored these applications with human test subjects.
As a fellow of pathology, Lushbaugh was afforded his own laboratory at the university, though his zeal for his research projects at times proved enough to outspend his resources. Former research assistant John B. Storer recalled:
Lushbaugh returned to his studies and finished his M.D. in 1948, having come to the conclusion his lack of formal medical education would negatively impact his ability to conduct clinical research.
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Lushbaugh left the University of Chicago in 1949 to join the Medical Center of the
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...
as a pathologist.
The job had been offered to him by Franklin McLean, and involved both research work in Los Alamos Biomedical Research Group, as well as clinical work at the Los Alamos Medical Center. Pursuant to this clinical requirement, he applied and took the exam for a
medical license
A medical license is an occupational license that permits a person to legally practice medicine. In most countries, a person must have a medical license bestowed either by a specified government-approved professional association or a governme ...
in New Mexico. He passed the
American Medical Association
The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016.
The AMA's state ...
's scientific examination, and, though he had completed no formal
residency
Residency may refer to:
* Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place
** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship
* Residency (medicine), a stage of postgrad ...
, he was given credit for part of his tenure at the University of Chicago as medical practice and received a medical license.
During his stay in Los Alamos, he served from 1950 to 1958 as the Assistant District Health Officer for
Los Alamos County
Los Alamos County (English: "The Poplars" or "Cottonwoods") is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 17,950. The smallest county by area in the state, Los Alamos County was formerly administered ex ...
.
Los Alamos Human Tissue Analysis Program
On December 30, 1958, at the Los Alamos laboratory, 38-year-old chemical operator
Cecil Kelley was involved in a
criticality accident
A criticality accident is an accidental uncontrolled nuclear fission chain reaction. It is sometimes referred to as a critical excursion, critical power excursion, or divergent chain reaction. Any such event involves the unintended accumulation ...
in which he absorbed 36
gray
Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...
of ionizing radiation from a mixing tank containing highly concentrated
plutonium-239
Plutonium-239 (239Pu or Pu-239) is an isotope of plutonium. Plutonium-239 is the primary fissile isotope used for the production of nuclear weapons, although uranium-235 is also used for that purpose. Plutonium-239 is also one of the three main ...
. He died 35 hours after this exposure from heart failure caused by the radiation he absorbed.
After his death, his body was sent to Lushbaugh at the Los Alamos Medical Center for autopsy. Lushbaugh had worked with radiological injuries in the past, but Kelley's autopsy presented an opportunity that none before it had. Previously, safety assessments regarding radiation exposure had been reached based on predictive interpretations of
urine tests
A urine test is any medical test performed on a urine specimen. The analysis of urine is a valuable diagnostic tool because its composition reflects the functioning of many body systems, particularly the kidneys and urinary system, and specimens a ...
. As an employee of Los Alamos directly involved in the handling of radioactive materials, Kelley had given urine samples before he died, and now with his autopsy and the circumstances that preceded it, Lushbaugh identified a unique opportunity to confirm the validity of those tests and associated exposure limits, as well as ascertain the distribution of plutonium throughout the organs and skeleton.
Though it was considered acceptable to take samples during an autopsy to confirm diagnoses or cause of death, Lushbaugh proceeded during the Kelley autopsy to remove more than of organs from the body, including the brain and spinal cord, which he placed into empty glass mayonnaise jars for transport back to the biomedical lab.
The results of the examination of Kelley's tissue proved to be fruitful; while the urine tests were found to be accurate in their prediction of whole-body plutonium content, analysis of the organs found that the conventional models of where in the body the element would settle and accumulate were inaccurate. High concentrations of plutonium were found in Kelley's lungs and lymph nodes, and less in his liver and bone marrow.
So significant were these findings that Lushbaugh sent the samples from Kelley's body to other labs around the country so that they could independently verify the findings.
He also made this type of tissue removal part of the standard procedure for autopsies at Los Alamos, for both employees and non-employees, the latter of whom would act as a
control group
In the design of experiments, hypotheses are applied to experimental units in a treatment group.
In comparative experiments, members of a control group receive a standard treatment, a placebo, or no treatment at all. There may be more than one tr ...
. This decision marked the beginning of the Los Alamos Human Tissue Analysis Program.
To this end, when the next-of-kin was asked to authorize an autopsy at Los Alamos, a provision was included in the form to allow, at the discretion of the examining physician, the removal of tissues and other specimens for research purposes. The explicit intention to use these tissues in the experimental program, however, was not revealed to those who signed the authorization. Additionally, most deaths that did not occur within the Los Alamos Medical Center fell under the authority of the coroner, who would be able to authorize the tissue removal without any involvement or awareness from the next-of-kin.
In his capacity as the Assistant District Health Officer for Los Alamos County, however, Lushbaugh was himself the ''de facto'' county coroner.
The program would last until 1978 – the first twelve years operating entirely from the Los Alamos Medical Center under Lushbaugh's purview.
In 1996, after discovering the fate of her father's remains through a series of information requests to Los Alamos, Katie Kelley Mareau, Cecil Kelley's daughter, initiated a
class-action lawsuit
A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class action ...
against the Los Alamos Medical Center, the University of California (who ran the laboratory), and Lushbaugh individually. The Los Alamos Medical Center and the university settled five years later in 2001, but Lushbaugh neither settled nor conceded any wrongdoing. During a deposition, he was asked who gave him permission to extract the organs from Cecil Kelley's body. He replied, "God gave me permission".
SL-1 reactor meltdown
Throughout the 1950s during his career at Los Alamos, Lushbaugh had built a reputation as an expert on radiological pathology, specifically concerning the investigation of nuclear accidents. In this capacity, he was called in 1961 to the
National Reactor Testing Station
Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is one of the national laboratories of the United States Department of Energy and is managed by the Battelle Energy Alliance. While the laboratory does other research, historically it has been involved with nu ...
in
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Idaho Falls (Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: Dembimbosaage) is a city in and the county seat of Bonneville County, Idaho, Bonneville County, Idaho, United States. It is the state's largest city outside the Boise metropolitan area. As of the 2020 Un ...
, to aid in the investigation of the
meltdown
Meltdown may refer to:
Science and technology
* Nuclear meltdown, a severe nuclear reactor accident
* Meltdown (security vulnerability), affecting computer processors
* Mutational meltdown, in population genetics
Arts and entertainment Music
* Me ...
of the
SL-1
Stationary Low-Power Reactor Number One, also known as SL-1 or the Argonne Low Power Reactor (ALPR), was a United States Army experimental nuclear reactor in the western United States at the National Reactor Testing Station (NRTS), later the ...
experimental nuclear power reactor that had resulted in the deaths of its three operators.
Because of the nature of the reactor meltdown, the bodies of all three men had been exposed to the reactor core and were extremely radioactive. Lushbaugh was called to perform the autopsy of the men, but because of the radioactivity of the remains, could not be in the same room as them to do so. In order to perform any significant degree of analysis, he and his team elected to remove the most radioactive parts of the bodies. To do this, he used a hacksaw blade that had been welded to a length of pipe, which he maneuvered from outside of the room. These pieces were sealed in steel drums and buried underground with concrete as
radioactive waste
Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons r ...
in the desert near the reactor.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
In 1963, shortly after his divorce from his first wife, Lushbaugh left the Los Alamos Laboratory to move to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to join the
Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies
Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) is a consortium of American universities headquartered in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, with offices in Arlington, Virginia, Arvada, Colorado, Belcamp, Maryland, Cincinnati, Ohio and staff at other locations acros ...
as the Chief Scientist of the Medical and Health Sciences Division. He would cite his divorce as part of the reason for the move, but the largest influence was the opportunity to continue his work with living subjects, whereas in Los Alamos he was limited to working with the deceased.
Total Body Irradiation Program
At Oak Ridge, Lushbaugh became involved in research at the behest of
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
and the
Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) designed to ascertain the point at which exposure to radiation would begin to cause
acute radiation sickness. Starting in 1960 and continuing until 1974, around 89 patients who were admitted to the Medical and Health Sciences Division clinic for cancer treatment were directly exposed to high levels of ionizing radiation as human test subjects. Lushbaugh was brought on in 1964, along with hematologist Gould Andrews, to lead the project.
The exposure was conducted in one of two custom-built
radiation therapy
Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Radia ...
chambers: the Medium-Exposure-Rate Total-Body Irradiator (METBI), which was originally designed for administering spray irradiation treatment for rare blood cancers, and the Low-Exposure-Rate Total-Body Irradiator (LETBI), which was custom-built for this project and administered lower doses over a longer period of time, and was also disguised to look like a normal waiting room. All of these procedures were performed under the guise of cancer treatment, which the patients had been referred to the clinic for, and the nature of the experiment was not divulged to them or their family members.
After the conclusion of the experiments, an AEC review board questioned their propriety, empirical value, and actual benefit to the patients who unwittingly participated in the program.
In a later interview Lushbaugh would propose several instances of positive outcomes from individuals in the programs, and a colleague said that the procedures under the purview of his experiments were still customized to the specific condition of each patient.
He also later stated that he was not directly responsible for selecting which patients referred to the clinic would be placed in the experiment, though it was attested by several others that he was among the senior staff that formed the committee which made such decisions. The controversy did not hinder his activities, however, as in the year following the conclusion of the study, he would be promoted and would continue his research into radiation exposure. Of the controversy, he quipped, "Only God can retire me".
Chairmanship and REAC/TS
In 1975, Lushbaugh became the Chairman of the Medical and Health Sciences Division and was also promoted to Chief of Radiation Medicine.
He was involved around this time in the establishment of the Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site, a facility at Oak Ridge that oversaw emergency care and treatment of patients following radiation exposure accidents. He served as its first director from 1976 to 1977. The facility became a major resource for education and emergency response coordination concerning radiological accidents, and is a key consulting body for the
National Nuclear Security Administration
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is a United States federal agency responsible for safeguarding national security through the military application of nuclear science. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, and e ...
, part of the
Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rel ...
.
Lushbaugh left Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1984.
Other activities
Lushbaugh was a prolific researcher, and throughout his career his name appeared on over 150 scientific publications.
From 1961 to 1971, he was an associate editor for ''
Radiation Research
''Radiation Research'', the official journal of the Radiation Research Society, is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research into the areas of biology, chemistry, medicine and physics, including epidemiology and translational r ...
'', an academic journal of the Radiation Research Society. Additionally, he was a founding member of and served on the Plutonium Registry Advisory Committee from 1968 to 1982.
Lushbaugh returned to academia in 1980, joining the faculty of the
School of Public Health at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
as an Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology.
During the
Chernobyl reactor meltdown in 1986, he was one of several radiation experts whose counsel was requested by the United States government. He traveled to the Soviet Union during this time to provide such counsel to American embassies and personnel in the region, and was reportedly impressed at the efficiency of the Soviet response to the incident.
Personal life
Lushbaugh, known to those around him by his preferred nickname "Lush",
had, despite his short and balding appearance, an imposing and combative presence, and a pointed sense of humor.
He would jokingly describe himself as a "cantankerous bastard",
and his nameplate from his desk at Oak Ridge National Laboratory read "HSOBIC" – ''Head Son-of-a-Bitch In Charge''.
At the same time, colleagues positively recall working with him, with some of the technicians who worked under him at Los Alamos noting his willingness to take their ideas and proposals into consideration, and to share credit with them on publications.
Lushbaugh's first marriage to Mary Helen Chisolm in 1942 produced three children – William, who was a professor at the University of Mississippi, and Bob and Nancy, both of whom worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Lushbaugh and Chisolm divorced in 1963.
His second marriage was to Dorothy Bess Hale in 1963 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Dorothy was a research assistant at Los Alamos during his tenure there.
They remained married until his death; she died on December 10, 2000.
Lushbaugh died on Friday, October 13, 2000, from complications related to
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lushbaugh, Clarence
1916 births
2000 deaths
American pathologists
University of Chicago faculty
American radiologists
Radiation health effects researchers
Human subject research in the United States
Los Alamos National Laboratory personnel
Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies faculty
People from Covington, Kentucky
University of Chicago alumni
Neurological disease deaths in Tennessee
Deaths from Alzheimer's disease
Physicians from Kentucky
20th-century American physicians