JENNIFER LUDDEN, host: Now an update.  A few weeks ago we told you about ethical issues      surrounding AIDS drug trials on foster children who are HIV-positive.      There were allegations that some children were not given independent      advocates as required by law to approve their participation.  Congress      had just begun to look into the matter.  This week the government found      that some AIDS drug experiments on foster children had violated federal      rules.  The US Department of Health and Human Services cited problems      with studies conducted at Columbia University Presbyterian Medical Center      in New York in the 1990s.  HHS said in some cases the center did not      prove it had obtained proper consent or provided adequate safeguards.
A few weeks ago, we reported that foster children were used in AIDS drug trials without proper permissions. The federal government said this week there were indeed problems with some of the drug trials.