She died as part of a medical study she didn’t even know she was in

(Editor’s note: This story is from 2017 but as it escaped our gaze we knew we had to share it with you. Please read and share with friends and family.)

After the unexpected death of Cristina Belmonte, her husband Manuel Belmonte knew something wasn’t right since the 45- year-old mother of three had no known major medical issues aside from diabetes.

And his answer came eight weeks later when he received a letter from UT Southwestern Medical Center. The following is the gist of the letter:

“Your family member was entered into a research study in hope of finding the best practices to treat cardiac arrest, and we are writing to inform you that this has occurred. This was done without your or your family member’s prior consent because they were unconscious and without a pulse at the time, and immediate treatment for this was necessary.”¹

Upon further research, Manuel discovered a non-consent medical study operating at UTSW that was testing which of two breathing tube rescue techniques worked best on cardiac arrest patients. He also found out that when his wife went into cardiac arrest in front of paramedics she had been given the “King Airway insertion,” a type of breathing tool (other patients in cardiac arrest were given a different kind of breathing tube).

Although both techniques were said to work equally well, this seems like an experiment with someone’s life.

Ibuprofen can stop your heart – 31% increase in cardiac arrest risk

Study leader Dr. Ahamed Idris, who declined to comment, said in a letter that being enrolled in the study didn’t add “additional medical risks”² and since “family members are usually very upset during a medical emergency”³ and aren’t “able to concentrate or comprehend what is being said during the emergency,”⁴ that action is taken without consent. His letter also noted that “patients in cardiac arrest are unconscious and unable to discuss their treatment,”⁵ and therefore any time taken discussing treatment options “robs the patient of immediately starting life-saving measures.”⁶

Opting Out

It’s shocking to believe that non-consent medical studies exist but they do. But you can protect yourself by buying a bracelet or dog tag necklace with “OPT OUT EMERGENCY RESEARCH” on it. However, you’re supposed to wear them all the time; if a paramedic treats you, they are trained to look for it and if they see it, they can’t conduct any medical experiments without your permission. (They are protected by federal rules governing no-permission-needed studies.)