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In Lawsuit Filed in D.C., Ben Crump Accuses U.S. of Using Black Babies in Deadly Vaccine Experiment

May 29, 2026

The families of two Black infants who died in 1967 have filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. government, alleging their children were used without parental consent in experimental RSV vaccine trials conducted by the National Institutes of Health in 1965-1966. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and his legal team represent the families of Ross Otto Hambrick and Victor Marcellus King, claiming the government deliberately targeted vulnerable Black infants from low-income families for testing a dangerous experimental vaccine called "Lot 100. " The lawsuit contends that tissue samples from the deceased children later contributed to FDA-approved RSV vaccines developed in 2023, yet the families were never informed, acknowledged, or compensated.

Who is affected

  • The families of Ross Otto Hambrick and Victor Marcellus King (the two deceased infants)
  • Ross Otto Hambrick and Victor Marcellus King (the infant test subjects who died)
  • Black infants from low-income families (alleged target group for the experiments)
  • The National Institutes of Health and the United States government (defendants in the lawsuit)

What action is being taken

  • The families have filed a federal lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act
  • Attorneys are demanding financial damages, full disclosure of government actions, and accountability from federal officials
  • The lawsuit is being pursued to uncover how the children were selected, what parents were told, and why families remained unaware for decades

Why it matters

  • This case raises profound ethical and civil rights concerns about alleged medical experimentation on vulnerable populations without informed consent. It highlights historical patterns of exploitation of Black communities and low-income families in medical research. The allegations also raise questions about transparency and accountability in government-sponsored medical research, particularly given that tissue samples from these children allegedly contributed to vaccines approved nearly six decades later without the families receiving acknowledgment or compensation.

What's next

  • No explicit next steps stated in the article

Read full article from source: The Washington Informer