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Report: Unauthorized Experiments Performed On Developmentally Disabled In New Jersey

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Developmentally disabled patients in New Jersey were treated like lab rats, according a report.

The New Jersey Health Department has conducted an investigation into a doctor and a nurse practitioner accused of administering potentially dangerous doses of Vitamin D to residents at the Hunterdon Developmental Center.

Dr. Philip May and his wife, nurse practitioner Robin Davidson May, are also accused of conducting research without families' consent.

The two are currently on paid leave.

Peg Kinsell, policy director for the statewide Parent Advocacy Network is shocked and appalled by the allegations.

"That we're talking, in 2012, about medical experimentation on citizens of the United  States is abhorrent. I mean these are things they talked about 50 years ago, 100 years ago that made your skin crawl," she told WCBS 880 on Tuesday.

Results of the state probe haven't been revealed, but officials said they've been turned over to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that provides funding and oversight for the Hunterdon facility.

In the wake of the allegations, New Jersey Assemblywoman Donna Simon has proposed legislation that would require unpaid leave for state workers suspected of misconduct.

"Individuals that are brought up on charges and through an investigation, especially involving misconduct of a public employee that can cause bodily harm to a patient, we don't believe that they should be collecting a salary from taxpayers unless they've been exonerated," she told WCBS 880.

Simon said that if the allegations are true, they represent one of the most outrageous betrayals of trust by medical personnel.

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