Thomas Campbell Butler (born ) is an American scientist specializing in infectious diseases including cholera and bubonic plague at

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sy ...

since 1987. He is credited with making oral hydration the standard treatment for

diarrhea Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin w ...

. Butler was arrested in 2003 and prosecuted by the

United States Justice Department The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

for, among many other charges, illegal transportation of plague samples,

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...

, fraud, and embezzlement. He was convicted of 47 out of 69 charges and served a two-year jail term ending in December 2005, having rejected a plea bargain offer.

Early life and education

Butler received his MD degree from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

in 1967 and served in the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit studying infectious disease, attaining the rank of

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

Arrest

In January 2003, Butler reported 30 vials of plague missing from his laboratory to safety officers at

. The missing vials apparently triggered a

bioterrorism Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same ...

response plan. Sixty law enforcement officers were sent to investigate, and they arrested Butler after questioning him. The Justice Department accused Butler of illegal transportation of plague samples,

, fraud, and embezzlement, among other charges. Butler pleaded not guilty in September 2003, turning down a plea-bargain offer for a six-month sentence in exchange for a guilty plea.

Conviction

He was convicted on December 1, 2003 of 47 of the 69 charges filed against him. Of the convictions, three were for improper shipment of plague samples to research collaborators in Tanzania and forty-four were related to what prosecutors called "shadow contracts" for his research at Texas Tech, whereby "part of the payment for clinical trials went directly to Dr. Butler instead of through university accounts."

Prosecution

The prosecution of Butler was met with disapproval by many groups of scientists, including colleagues, the National Academy of Sciences, several Nobel Prize winners, and the Federation of American Scientists. Critics of the prosecution suggested that the aggressive prosecution of a prominent scientist would make other scientists reluctant to carry out research in dangerous diseases for fear of similar prosecutions.

References

External links

Federation of American Scientists in support of Thomas C. Butler
* Murray, B. E. et al
"Destroying the Life and Career of a Valued Physician-Scientist Who Tried to Protect Us from Plague: Was It Really Necessary?"
''Clinical Infectious Diseases''. v40, pp. 1644–1648 (2005) {{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Thomas C. Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American infectious disease physicians American medical researchers Texas Tech University faculty Vanderbilt University School of Medicine alumni