The subsequent independent investigations—by the Associated Press,47 by the federal Office of Human Research Protections,48 and by the Vera Institute of Justice49—confirmed that most children did not have the protection of an independent advocate to give or refuse consent to experimental interventions, and that they were almost all children of color: predominantly African American (64 percent) and Latino (30 percent), suggesting discriminatory policies consistent with HHS’s long history of medical racism.

