WASHINGTON (NNPA)�A lawyer representing a Black woman who believes her child was used as a guinea pig in a West Baltimore lead study said the family was targeted because of their race and class.

"This is a decades-old problem," said Kenneth W. Strong, who is representing the family of Viola Hughes, one of several low-income Black families recruited to live in row houses that had high levels of lead-based paint.

"Had it occurred in the middle-class community, it would have been resolved a long time ago," Mr. Strong said in an interview with the NNPA News Service.

Ms. Hughes is among those seeking damages from the Kennedy Krieger Institute, claiming negligence. Her child was included in a study by the Kennedy Krieger Institute, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University.

The institute was trying to find a simple and inexpensive way to clean up the lead and keep their properties. But the families were not informed of the risk.

The case has brought out memories of the 1940s Tuskegee experiment in Alabama, in which Black men were withheld treatment for syphilis. Both studies targeted a vulnerable low-income Black population in which the researchers felt justified in withholding information.

The Baltimore court case is currently pending at the Circuit Court of Baltimore City. The Baltimore Trial Court originally sided with Kennedy Krieger. However, the Maryland Court of Appeals reversed its decision, saying that the institute did have a legal duty to inform the participants about the study�s specific hazards throughout the test period.

Landlords recruited families in low-income Black neighborhoods for the study of 110 to 125 homes. To be eligible, a child had to be six months to four years old with no physical or mental impairments. This process randomly selected low-income families with children to live in homes that tested positive for lead paint.

Ericka Grimes, Ms. Hughes� nine-year-old daughter, was involved in the study from spring 1993 to fall 1994. Mr. Strong says Ericka is suffering from learning disabilities, an impaired I.Q., and attention difficulties as a result of her involvement in the study.

A spokesperson for Johns Hopkins would not comment on the case directly but referred questions to the company�s website, where officials said that the institute "has been and is committed to the welfare of the families and all persons in its research studies."

Kennedy Krieger officials maintained that the company had "no legal obligation" to warn the families of potential harm.