We Need to Talk About the Fenfluramine Study

February 26, 2026 - 00:38

The field of child psychiatry continues to grapple with a deeply troubling and largely unaddressed study from the 1990s. During this period, researchers administered fenfluramine, a drug later banned for causing heart damage, to dozens of young boys—predominantly from Black and Brown communities—to purportedly study biological predictors of violence.

The experiments, conducted at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, involved giving the single dose of fenfluramine to boys as young as six. The stated goal was to measure a specific neurochemical response, theorized to be linked to aggressive behavior. Critics have long condemned the work as ethically bankrupt, highlighting the exploitation of vulnerable children from low-income families and the reinforcement of harmful racial stereotypes linking minority youth to violence.

While the study was published and discussed in academic circles, there has never been a formal reckoning within the profession. The work raises profound questions about informed consent, racial bias in research, and the lasting shadow cast on communities' trust in medical institutions. Many now argue that openly confronting this history is a necessary step for the field to acknowledge past harms and rebuild essential trust. The silence surrounding these experiments remains a significant stain on psychiatric research.