"The City of Philadelphia takes the opportunity to apologize for the experiments conducted by the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia’s Holmesburg Prison," the city said in a statement issued on Thursday.
"Inmates were intentionally exposed to pharmaceuticals, viruses, fungus, asbestos, and even dioxin, a component of Agent Orange. The vast majority of those subjected to this wide range of experimentation were Black men, many of them illiterate, awaiting prosecution and attempting to save enough money to make bail."
The city's apology comes 20 years after a federal court dismissed a lawsuit filed by over 300 inmates subjected to experiments conducted by Dr. Albert Kligman, a pioneer in the field of dermatology whose work led to the development of the acne treatment now sold as Retin-A.
According to the Philly Voice, pharmaceutical powerhouses such as Johnson & Johnson and Dow Chemical Company sponsored the research, seeing benefits in experimenting on "inexpensive" human test subjects.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney in the statement said the city was also sorry it took so long to address these "inhumane and horrific" historic wrongs, which his administration aimed to rectify.