The family of a former Penn neuroscientist who died of brain cancer in 2011 has filed suit against the University, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Jeffrey H. Ware’s family alleged that Penn physicians enrolled him in a study without his consent, treating him with radiation. The plaintiffs, who filed suit on Tuesday, also alleged that Penn failed to protect Ware from laboratory radiation.
Penn Medicine spokesperson Susan Phillips said in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian on Wednesday evening that “the allegations are without merit and we will vigorously defend against the suit.”
Ware, who was 47 years old when he died, is survived by his wife, Barbara Boyer, and his two daughters. Boyer could not immediately be reached for a comment Wednesday evening.
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While working at Penn, Ware was a Ph.D. senior researcher who studied the effects of radiation on lab animals in the lab of Perelman School of Medicine professor Ann R. Kennedy. Kennedy was one of the defendants named in the family’s lawsuit.
Gary Kao, an associate professor at the medical school, is also a named defendant in the suit. Kao worked on research with Kennedy, and was involved in the trial in which Ware and other patients were treated with radiation, the Inquirer reported.
However, the lawsuit alleges that Ware could not give informed consent to be part of the trial, since his cognitive abilities had been affected by his brain cancer and two prior brain surgeries, according to the Inquirer.
City News Editor Sarah Smith contributed reporting.
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