The families of two infants who died in the 1960s are suing the federal government alleging the babies received an experimental RSV vaccine without the knowledge or consent of their families, according to a report by The New York Times.1
Lung tissue samples from the deceased infants—who died of complications from RSV and bacterial pneumonia in January 1967—were allegedly used to develop the current FDA-approved RSV vaccine, according to lawsuit details reported by The New York Times.1
According to the NYT-published lawsuit details, Ross Otto Hambrick and Victor Marcellus King were two of at least 31 children part of the trial and between 1965 and 1966 were administered three doses of “Lot 100,” an experimental RSV vaccine compound developed by the National Institutes of Health.1
The children died in January 1967 at ages 14 months and 16 months, but after doctors conducting the research became aware of increased mortality risks for children in the study, according to the lawsuit reported by the New York Times.1
Their families are now accusing the federal government of wrongful death, lack of informed consent and civil battery in a lawsuit filed on May 22. They are also asking for an unspecified amount of financial relief, because sample tissues taken from the boys’ autopsies were crucial to developing the RSV vaccine that is now used around the world.1
Read the full article on The New York Times website
Source
- Tumin R. Suit Says Black Infants Were Subjected to Experimental Vaccine Without Consent. The New York Times (online). May 28, 2026. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/28/us/rsv-vaccine-testing-lawsuit.html
