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Scots Mum Fights for Thousands Exposed to Deadly Radiation By Doctors

Posted on: Sunday, 6 February 2005, 06:00 CST

A SCOTS mum is launching an historic legal action on behalf of a generation of children exposed to harmful ultra-violet radiation by doctors seeking cures for diseases such as rickets. Christine Algar, 51, claims that the experiments she endured as afive--year-old have left her a physical wreck.

The mum-of-two, of Glasgow, said: 'I should be enjoying my three grandchildren but I'm confined to a wheelchair many hours of the day, my immune system has been wrecked and my eyesight has been destroyed.

'I'm waiting on tests to see if I've developed skin cancer.'

From the 1930s to the 1950s, hundreds of children were subjected to UV radiation because their poor diets had led to severe vitamin D deficiency. A lack of the vitamin could cause ailments such as rickets and brittle bones.

Doctors believed that by exposing them to UV rays - also found in sunlight - they would get the vitamin D required.

Medical experts now fear these children, like Christine, have grown up suffering skin cancers, immune system failure and eye damage.

And scientists say those who are exposed to too much sun are at a greater risk of skin cancer.

Christine - whose husband Ray, 52, had to quit his job as a leisure centre manager to care for her - faced the tests after doctors became concerned about her small size, an affliction which earned her the nickname Thumbelina.

She said: 'I was so tiny, doctors thought I was failing to thrive. I remember being taken to a clinic in John Street, Glasgow, where a dozen children were told to strip naked, put on goggles and run under huge purple lights.

'This went on for weeks. I remember doctors and nurses watching us through doors with special windows.

'We had to run around for about an hour, inches from the light source. Then they gave us a black syrup, some malt and sent us home.'

Archive documents prove children were subjected to the experiments for ailments including abscesses, rickets, anaemia, debility, enlarged glands, bronchitis, rheumatism and corneal ulcers.

One file, taken from the former Glasgow Corporation, reveals almost 5200 'treatments' in a year at a Glasgow clinic. Children were exposed to mercury vapour lamps and carbon arc lamps, which emitted intense doses of UV radiation, as close as 36 inchesfrom their bodies, for up to an hour several times a week.

Dr Chris Busby, director of independent environmental consultancy Green Audit and a regular speaker at the European Parliament on radiation issues, said: 'In the 30s and late 50s, scientists were far too gung-ho with experiments of this kind.

'Of course, many years later, the damaging effects present themselves. I'd urge anyone who has undergone these experiments to go for a check-up.'

Skin cancer specialist Professor Rona MacKie, of Glasgow University, said doctors thought the tests would benefit the childrens' health. She said: 'Sunlight is essential for bone health and doctors carried out these treatments to prompt the developmentof vitamin D. 'The levels of exposure would not have caused the skin to burn and the children were protected with eye goggles.'

Sensitivity But Dr Paul Johnston of Exeter University, director of the Greenpeace Research Laboratory, said: 'The lamps used in the vitamin D treatments can be tweaked to produce varying levels of radiation. 'We now know there are varying levels ofsensitivity and, while some children were unaffected, others may be.' Experts also fear children whose parents had this treatment may be at risk.

Radiation campaigner Ken McGinley, who fought for compensation for victims of the Christmas Island nuclear bomb tests, said: 'Because I was a veteran of the nuclear tests at Christmas Island, the medical effects were withheld from me.

'They knew I was suffering from related cancers but wanted to know the effects on any children I may have. It was as brutal and cold as that.'

Renfrewshire MSP Bruce McFee is demanding an inquiry. He said: 'I'm so shocked. I want an immediate answer from the Health Minister into how long these experiments were allowed to go on. I want to know whether anything has been done to check the healthof the poor children subjected to such abuse.'

Christine's lawyer, Cameron Fyfe, said: 'We believe there may be hundreds of Scots in this position. We want to find as many others as possible.'

Last night, the Scottish Executive said: 'We are aware this treatment was used for illness associated with dietary vitamin D deficiency. The levels of exposure were carefully controlled to avoid sunburn.'

Glasgow City Council added: 'Education and health officials believed it was an appropriate course of action.'

# BEFORE and after World War 2, many kids were undernourished and suffered from bone problems caused by a lack of vitamin D. Children who grew up without fresh fruit and veg in their diet were most likely to get rickets.

# IN poverty-stricken areas of the West of Scotland, many suffered bowed legs due to the condition. It left many victims crippled and unable to stand up properly.

# IN the 1960s, doctors realised a diet packed with fresh vegetables, eggs and oily fish, combined with a healthy exposure to the sun, produced enough vitamin D to eradicate the problem.

# VITAMIN D deficiency was also associated with more serious illnesses, including many forms of cancer, high blood pressure, depression, immune system disorders, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes.

# DOCTORS also believe patients with vitamin D deficiency are more prone to developing common cancers such as those of the colon, prostate, breast and ovaries.

# SPECIALISTS in the USA are now warning of the return of the disease in poorly-nourished African American children in major inner cities.

# RECENT studies suggest low levels of the vitamin may be putting the elderly at higher risk of the bone-thinning disease, osteoporosis, as well as life-threatening falls and fractures.

Source: Sunday Mail; Glasgow (UK)

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