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Died in prison

Name not reported

died November 1906 · Bilibid Prison, Manila, Philippines (under US rule)

Ten to thirteen people held at Bilibid Prison in Manila, Philippine Islands, died in late 1906 within days of receiving anti-cholera serum in a Bureau of Science experiment meant to protect those held there from cholera. Governor-General Smith's dispatch to the War Department, and the War Department's annual report, attributed the deaths to plague culture that was accidentally mixed into the serum. A committee of scientists later reported that attenuated plague cultures had been mixed into the cholera serum. Dr. William R. Moulden, a former resident physician at the prison, doubted that the inoculations caused the deaths. A Filipino committee found that no one was responsible for the accident and recommended provision for the families of the dead.

Cause of death, as reported: Died in an accident. Governor-General Smith's dispatch blamed a visitor for misplacing a plague culture bottle with the anti-cholera serum, while a committee of scientists found the deaths came from plague cultures mixed into the serum and a Filipino committee found no one was responsible.

Reported by: Governor-General Smith, in a dispatch to the War Department; Secretary of War Taft's annual report; Bureau of Science physicians investigating the deaths (outside investigators); committee of scientists; Filipino committee (outside investigators); Dr. William R. Moulden, former resident physician at Bilibid Prison.

Sources (15)

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