Dr. Ruth L. Kirschstein Oral History 1999

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Dr. Ruth Kirschstein, Deputy Director of the National Institutes of Health

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Please Note: These interviews have not been verified for complete accuracy

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Harden:           Dr. Kirschstein, to start this interview, I would like to go off on somewhat of a tangent and ask you some questions about the recent publicity surrounding the Salk polio vaccine and whether the SP40 that contaminated it before 1960 might be causing malignancies today.  The report that gained publicity on the news was essentially the information discussed in the conference proceedings that you gave us in session two.  But I wanted to hear you comment, if you would, first, on the substance of those arguments; and second, on what you as a federal employee and a scientist who has dealt with polio think about the responsibilities of scientists and the press in publicizing things that could cause a lot of public upset.

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