Saul Krugman
| Saul Krugman | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 7, 1911 Bronx, New York, USA |
| Died | November 26, 1995 (aged 84) |
| Nationality |
 American
|
| Fields | Medical researcher |
| Institutions | New York University (NYU) |
| Alma mater |
Ohio State University University of Richmond Medical College of Virginia New York University (NYU) |
| Known for | Contributions to Pediatric Infectious Diseases (textbook and primary research), Willowbrook Hepatitis Studies |
| Notable awards |
Robert Koch Prize (Gold, 1978) John Howland Award (1981) |
Saul Krugman (April 7, 1911 – October 26, 1995) was an American pediatrician, medical researcher and vaccinologist whose controversial work led to the development of the vaccine against hepatitis B. According to vaccinologist Maurice Hilleman, Krugman's studies on hepatitis in the mentally disabled at the Willowbrook State School in New York City "were the most unethical medical experiments ever performed in children in the United States".
The son of Russian Jewish immigrants, Krugman was born in the Bronx on April 7, 1911. He began his undergraduate studies at Ohio State University in 1929 and, after taking time off following his junior year to earn money so he could complete his studies, graduated from the University of Richmond in 1934.
Krugman began his medical studies at the Medical College of Virginia. After service during World War II — he served as a flight surgeon in the South Pacific — he went on to pursue research at New York University (NYU). Krugman was the first to distinguish hepatitis A from hepatitis B. and made great strides in describing their different characteristics and behaviors. While examining blood samples from patients with hepatitis at NYU, Krugman discovered that heating blood containing hepatitis B would kill the virus while preserving an antibody response when used as a vaccine.
From 1958 to 1964, Krugman injected disabled children with live hepatitis virus. After infecting the children, Krugman would then experiment with developing a vaccine to be used to protect United States military personnel from the chronic and often fatal disease. In addition, feces were taken from institutionalized children with hepatitis A and put in milkshakes, which were then fed to newly admitted children. Poor families were often coerced into allowing their children to be included in these “treatments” as a prerequisite for admission into the state school which was the only option for working-class families needing care for a child suffering from mental retardation or other disability.
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