University of Pennsylvania Medical School Sued Over Researcher’s Death

The widow of a researcher who died of brain cancer has sued the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and two other researchers for allegedly exposing her husband to deadly radiation and enrolling him in an experimental study without his permission.

The university says in statement that the allegations are “completely without merit.”

Barbara Boyer filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court in the October 2011 death of her husband, Jeffrey Ware.

Ware studied the effects of radiation of animals in order to develop better ways to protect astronauts from radiation in outer space.

The lawsuit claims that after Ware developed brain cancer, he was enrolled in a trial to treat that illness with radiation, though his widow claims his illness and two surgeries kept him from giving a fully informed consent.