Author: Jon Merz
Date: 03-18-04 14:20
Source: Michael Oakes
http://www.aztrib.com/index.php?sec=s&k=havasupai&Submit.x=2&Submit.y=10
03/17 - Havasupai Tribe files $50M lawsuit against ASU
By Marija Potkonjak, East Valley Tribune
The Havasupai Tribe has filed a $50 million lawsuit against Arizona State
University, the Arizona Board of Regents and three researchers alleging that
blood samples taken from tribal members under the pretext of diabetes
research were destroyed, lost or used in studies of schizophrenia,
inbreeding and population migration without the donors' consent.
The suit, filed Friday in Coconino County Superior Court, comes in the wake
of a $25 million lawsuit filed by 52 individual tribal members. That suit
also names the Board of Regents, the three researchers and ASU as
defendants.
Both suits allege that nearly 400 blood samples from more than 180 donors
were collected from 1990 to 1994 by researchers John Martin, Therese Ann
Markow and Daniel Benyshek.
Individual members of the board, including president Chris Herstam and
ex-officio members Gov. Janet Napolitano and state Superintendent of Public
Instruction Tom Horne were also named in the tribe's lawsuit.
Tribal chairwoman Linda Mahone would not comment on the lawsuit Tuesday, nor
would members of the Board of Regents.
"There definitely is evidence that there was never an intent to strictly do
diabetes research," said the tribe's attorney, Robert A. Rosette of the law
firm Monteau & Peebles LLP. "The tribe is very upset about the negligence of
Arizona State University and the violation of their civil rights."
ASU officials had yet to be served with the tribe‚s lawsuit. But in a
statement responding to the earlier lawsuit filed by individual tribal
members, ASU spokesman Virgil Renzulli disputed the allegations and said the
university "will vigorously defend itself."
The tribe's suit alleges that in 1989, Martin and Markow developed a project
to study the diabetes epidemic ravaging the Havasupai Tribe. The project
consisted of three parts: Diabetes education, collecting blood samples from
tribal members for research, and genetic testing to identify which genes in
the Havasupai caused diabetes.
Martin and Markow presented that project "strictly as a diabetes project" to
the seven-member tribal council between 1989 and August 1990. The tribe's
suit also alleges that the researchers used diabetes to get the tribe's
cooperation, which was necessary in order to obtain grants from the National
Institutes of Health.
On May 14, 1990, Martin asked the tribe for a letter endorsing the project's
research protocol, and tribal leaders provided it "with the understanding
that the Project would be focused solely on diabetes research," according to
the suit.
Immediately after obtaining the blood samples, Markow illegally obtained
more than 100 medical charts from the Supai Health Clinic in the Supai
Village to identify patients with schizophrenia, according to court records.
Researchers also collected handprints from test subjects in 1992, claiming
they would be used in the diabetes study, but they were actually used in a
research project involving inbreeding, according to court records.
The tribe's suit also alleges that the Institutional Review Board, which
regulates ASU research involving human subjects, failed to stop the
mishandling and transfer of the blood samples to laboratories and research
institutions across the country. Those findings appeared in 23 scholarly
papers and 15 publications dealing with "schizophrenia, inbreeding and
theories about ancient human population migrations from Asia to North
America."
Using the samples in migration theories was particularly offensive to the
Havasupai because their religion and culture is based on the belief that
their origins as a people come from "Red Butte" located in the Grand Canyon,
Rosette said.
Thirteen years after approving the diabetes project, the tribe began an
investigation at the prompting of tribal member Carletta Tilousi.
Apparently, Tilousi came across those publications and "realized this was
her tribe they were talking about," Rosette said.
Renzulli disputed Rosette's version of events, saying it was an ASU
researcher who came across the mishandling of the blood samples and reported
it to officials. ASU then launched an independent investigation to track the
blood samples and return them to the original donors or their families.
Contact Marija Potkonjak by email, or phone (480) 898-6818
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