Victims of NIH Mercury Study Blew Whistle on Rampant Sex Abuse in Orphanage; The Deeply Flawed NIH Study Continued
A controversial NIH funded study many dentists in the medical establishment cite as evidence that mercury causes no harm was pushed forward despite credible evidence of an industrial scale child sex abuse scandal targeting a vulnerable population of Portuguese orphans.
According to a National File investigation and NIH documents released after a FOIA request, many of those orphans have suffered devastating effects of prolonged exposure to mercury during the study, which came to be known as the Casa Pia study, in addition to the abuse which was widely reported on by the mainstream media.
The NIH’s only response was to fire off several rounds of emails a year after the scandal first surfaced in an effort to make it appear that they had done all appropriate due diligence with respect to the scandal.
The investigation into sex abuse at Casa Pia began in 2002, and was widely covered by international media, including The New York Times, Reuters, The Guardian, CBS, and the BBC, which primarily waited to report on the scandal until after convictions were handed down.
Top Portuguese luminaries were found guilty of involvement with a Child Sourcing and paedophile prostitution ring that exploited children from state-run orphanages, including one of Portugal's most famous television presenters and a former ambassador, along with six others.
The controversial mercury study continued apace until its completion in 2008, despite the scandal having been widely reported on beginning in 2002.
The abuse whistleblower, who was about ten years old at the time of the abuse, blew the whistle in 2002.
The NIH-funded study’s top authors and researchers participated in sweeping the known sex abuse scandal under the rug so that the study could continue, hiding it from government watchdogs for approximately one year.
National File is not identifying the victim, who is now in his mid-thirties, in order to protect his safety.
According to the BBC, child psychologists found that more than 100 children were likely to have been abused at some time during the so-called Casa Pia study.
Unfortunately, police were only able to push the matter forward in only a minority of abuse cases, though a half dozen abusers were ultimately convicted.
Casa Pia, through various schools and homes, cares for some 1,800 orphans and children whose families are not able to provide care for them.
Pedro Namora, a lawyer and former pupil who helped journalist Felicia Cabrita break the story in 2002, remembers his teachers' dedication with fondness.
Namora also condemned the directors' failure to safeguard the well-being of other children at the time.
"These were kids from deprived backgrounds, seen as rubbish," Namora said. "Incidents were reported, but officials washed their hands of it."
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https://www.nationalfile.com/article/victims-of-nih-mercury-study-blew-whistle-on-rampant-sex-abuse-in-orphanage-the-deeply-flawed-nih-study-continued