A recent study has revealed that several Indian origin women were given radioactive roti as part of an experiment in the UK back in 1969. The experiment was part of a research trial for iron deficiency especially in the South Asian community in which bread containing radioactive isotopes of iron, Iron-59, was given to 21 women of Indian origin.
The story of the ‘radioactive rotis’ has raised numerous debates around ethics and accountability in the field of science and medicine. An MP of the opposition Labour Party has raised concerns about the matter and would try to hold a debate on the same as and when session resumes.
The research was carried out to find the cause for widespread anaemia in South Asian women. The researchers had suspected their diet to be insufficient and therefore carried out an experiment to reach conclusions.
The Medical Research Council (MRC) stated that “Asian women should take extra iron because the iron in the flour was insoluble.” The government of the UK is facing a lot of heat for what it did decades earlier. The story has gone viral over the internet and people are asking for accountability.
