Between 1946 and 1953, at a Massachusetts institution called the Walter E. Fernald State School, dozens of boys were recruited into something called a “Science Club.” They were promised special perks — better food, baseball games, trips to the beach. What they weren’t told was that their breakfast oatmeal and milk were secretly laced with
radioactive iron and calcium.
The so-called nutritional study was designed by scientists from
MIT, funded in part by the
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and co-sponsored by
Quaker Oats, which supplied the cereal. The goal was to measure how well the body absorbed minerals from food — but the method violated every basic rule of ethics and consent.
The children, many labeled “feebleminded” or “morons” by the state, were wards of Massachusetts — boys without parents, without rights, and without the ability to refuse. Some were even injected with radioactive materials in follow-up experiments. None were told what was happening to them.
When the truth came out decades later, public outrage was immediate. Survivors like
Fred Boyce came forward, saying the greatest harm wasn’t the radiation — it was being treated like an object, not a person. In 1998,
MIT and Quaker Oats settled a class-action lawsuit for
$1.85 million, and President
Bill Clinton issued an apology on behalf of the federal government for Cold War-era human radiation testing.
But behind the headlines is a bigger story — about power, secrecy, and the belief that science justifies anything.
In this episode, we dig deep into the
Fernald radioactive oatmeal experiments — what really happened, who was responsible, what became of the victims, and how it changed human-subject research forever.
Hosted by Tony Brueski.
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