Your name, please? PETTIGREW: My name is Oscar Pettigrew, and I was Holmesburg from the years '64 to '67. During those years, I participated in several test studies such as pill studies, the dandruff studies, the toothpaste studies, punch biopsies, which they took and punched a needle through the center of my chest to take the bone marrow from it to which they gave me arthritis with the pills that I took following the punch biopsy. That's what it was 104 5/7/02 LAW & GOV'T COMMITTEE - RES. 020171 mainly for, to see how fast arthritis would form into my body, which is what it did, and it destroyed the back of my spine to where I had to get two back fusions done and a nerve surgery done because the outer calibers of the vertebrae broke off and severely cut the nerves down on the left side of my back. And that's just about it with this study.
My name is Lafayette Roby. I was at Holmesburg Prison from 1963 to 1975, and I was on the pill tests. And from that, I've seen a psychiatrist ever since 1969 up until today. And I was on the sweat box test, and I was also on a toothpaste test and, like, in the later years, in my thirties, all my teeth came out my mouth. You know, today, I can't seem to wear dentures. And I had a biopsy cut -- they right 105 5/7/02 LAW & GOV'T COMMITTEE - RES. 020171 here (pointing to right forearm). And from that, you know, today, I still see a psychiatrist from the pill test that I was on, you know, when I was at Holmesburg.
Thank you very much, Anyone else? Just come forward. (Witness comes forward.)
Good morning. My name is Douglas Armstrong. I was in Holmesburg from 1965 to 1967. During that time, I was on a lot of tests; some of them, I've forgot. The ones that stands out in my mind now is the athlete's feets [sic] test because today, my feet, you know, they horrible. I mean, I have a fungus, you know, and the dermatologist, he can't do anything with it, okay. Also, I developed a cancer in between my thighs by the patch they put there and, you know, I don't know whether it had anything to do with the test or not but, you know, I have cancer. Thank the lord that they removed it all, and it hasn't been recurring.
Thank you very much. All right, that concludes the hearings 106 5/7/02 LAW & GOV'T COMMITTEE - RES. 020171 for today. This hearing will stand in recess until Tuesday, May 28th, at 10:30:00 a.m. in this room, Room 696. Thank you all for your cooperation. (Proceedings end at 12:56 p.m.) - - - 107 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia's meeting of the Committee on Law and Government of Tuesday, May 7, 2002, are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. RE: Resolution No. 020171 _______________________________, Josephine Cardillo Registered Professional Reporter and Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)