From the mid-1950s through the mid-1970s, inmates of Philadelphia's Holmesburg Prison were used, in exchange for a few dollars, as guinea pigs in a host of medical experiments. Hornblum paints a disturbing portrait of abuse, moral indifference, and greed, as doctors, in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania and prison officials, established the prison as a testing lab.
At a time of increased interest and renewed shock over the Tuskegee syphilis experiments, Acres of Skin sheds light on yet another dark episode of American medical history. In this disturbing expose, Allen M. Hornblum tells the story of Philadelphia's Holmesburg Prison.