323 



in the discovery of the vaccine and its final approval, there naturally vras great 

 interest in the use of the vaccine.*^ 



He then related this to the distribution testing and policing policies 

 of PHS and asked Dr. Scheele: ''What part did the U.S. Public 

 Health Service * * * or the Department of Health, Education, and 

 Welfare, make in this launching of Dr. Francis' report and tlie an- 

 Qouncement by Dr. Salk of the efficacy of the vaccine?" Scheele denied 

 any PHS share of responsibility in organizing the presentation, 

 attributed the publicity to the NFIP, and added : 



The role we played on that day was twofold : We were eager listeners. I wasn't 

 personally, but members of my staff were. And in addition to that, Dr. Workman, 

 who directed our Laboratory of Biologies Control, was one of the scientific 

 speakers on the program. He described the standard for the production of vac- 

 cine at that scientific meeting.** 



Dr. Julian Price, of the AlVIA, also criticized the method of pres- 

 entation of the Francis report. He presented a resolution adopted by 

 his organization which reaffirmed : 



* * * the need for the presentation of reports on medical research before 

 established scientific groups allowing free discussion and criticism, and the 

 publication of such reports, including methods employed and data acquired on 

 which the results and conclusion are based, in recognized scientific publica- 

 tions.^* 



Dr. Martin of the AMA stated that the potential emergency of a 

 polio epidemic was not as threatening as believed : 



We do not feel that there is any emergency in this particular situation that 

 justified this procedure in this case. I do not think you can generalize completely 

 on that. Tour decisions have to be made according to the needs of an emergency 

 situation that might arise with some acute epidemic disease."" 



Some committee members sought advice as to whether any legisla- 

 tive action was feasible to hasten the production of a safe vaccine. Mrs. 

 Hobby replied that some manufacturers were building additional 

 plants and beyond this no additional initiatives were needed. Slie re- 

 ferred the scientific aspects of the questions to Dr. Scheele. He added 

 that "I do not believe there is anything that can be done to speed up 

 the process * * *." Upon further cj[uestionino; he revealed where re- 

 search was needed and indicated deficiencies m present scientific un- 

 derstanding : 



There is something that will help to speed it up, I think. The manufacturers 

 will be doing research on the methodology of production, and undoubtedly as 

 time passes they will improve the grade of virus in their culture bottles * * *. 



* * * And one of the things that we have started to do and will continue to do 

 is some research on methodology of testing. And it may be that as the months 

 pass we will devise different techniques for testing which of themselves may 

 speed up the rather cumbersome tests that science knows today. 



For example, we use monkeys, and we carry these monkeys for 30 or 35 days 

 before they are sacrificed and the cords in their brains are studied. 



With continued research we may devise new methods which may cut down 

 time and energy that has to be put into production, and by that very device 

 permits speedups to occur. 



He did not recommend, however, that Congress should attempt to 

 enact legislation to improve the research process : 



*" Senate. Committee on Labor and Public Welfare. Poliomyelitis vaccine hearing, op. cit., 

 p. 165. 



*s Ibid., pp. 165-6. 



"Ibid., p. 82. 



00 Ibid., pp. 100-101. 



