Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Seattle Sued for Fraud

AP 27mar01

SEATTLE - Families of 82 cancer patients sued a prominent cancer research center, accusing it of fraud and ethics violations in failed bone-marrow experiments the center conducted for more than a decade.

The lawsuit filed Monday followed a series by The Seattle Times earlier this month that reported the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center didn't fully warn patients of the experiments' risks, and failed to disclose private financial holdings in some of the drugs being tested.

At least 20 people died from the experimental blood-cancer treatments conducted from 1981 to 1993, the Times reported. Only two of the 82 who enrolled are still alive despite a statistical likelihood that more might have lived.

The Hutchinson Center has the world's leading bone marrow transplant program and is the No. 1 recipient of research funds from the National Cancer Institute.

Center officials had no immediate comment on the suit, but have previously disputed allegations in the Times' series.

The so-called Protocol 126 experiments were aimed at introducing antibodies that might help patients' bodies accept donated bone marrow. Instead, there was an increase in rejection of donated marrow and cancer relapse compared with patients undergoing regular bone-marrow transplants, the newspaper said.

According to the Times, Seattle-based biotech company Genetic Systems paid royalties for an exclusive commercial license for three of the eight drugs tested in Protocol 126, and gave stock to some of the center's doctors and a foundation affiliated with Hutchinson.

The lawsuit contends that the research center violated federal laws on drug investigations and protection of human research subjects and of breaching ethical guidelines governing human research.

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