sharrissa: it was really emotional. a lot of crying, a lot of disbelief, a lot of heartache, and then it was anger. i'm his mom, you know, i'm supposed to protect him, but it was almost like i threw him out to the wolves, you know. bernita: i was angry. and i couldn't believe that some to protect people would actually do this. that was mind-boggling. sharyl: if you had been told the risks involved and what they were really going to do, would you have signed him up? bernita: absolutely not. no. sharyl: yet there were no apologies. instead, the "support" researchers made a bold, new claim that's particularly controversial -- they said the babies were actually better off for having been in the study. dr. lantos: the risks of not being in that study were comparable to the risks of being in that study and perhaps even higher. sharyl: dr. carome argues that's simply wrong. dr. carome: there's no doubt that some babies, because theyey were in the study, died as a result sharyl: amid the criticism, the "support" researchers and

his mother sharrissa was barely born. sharrissa cook: i remember the was a hysterical wreck. i was afraid, i was scared, i sharyl: how big was he, do you remember? sharrissa: he would fit in your hand. at the university of alabama at birmingham, sharrissa agreed to enroll dreshan in a study called "support." she says the hospital gave the impression she was simply signing up to get "support" in caring for a preemie. your thought was, when you signed the papers, that what was going to happen? sharrissa: that my son would be given the best care possible and that even with his prematurity being as extreme as it was, that it would be okay because i had all of this help. sharyl: she had no clue, she says, that the "support" studydy was actually a national experiment on the most fragile of test t bjects -- 1300 extremely premature infants. bernita lewis also agreed to enroll her baby, christian, in the "support" study at the same hospital. bernita: christian was born at 27 weeks. sharyl: how much did he weigh? bernita: he was 1 lb, 9 oz. he was very tiny. sharyl: she says a hospita

, sharrissa agreed to "support." she says the hospital gave the impression she was simply signing up to get "support" in caring for a preemie. your thought was, when you signed the papers, that what was going to happen? sharrissa: that my son would be given the best care possible and that even with his prematurity being as extreme as it was, that it would be okay because i had sharyl: she had no clue, she says, that the "support" study was actually a national experiment on the most fragile of test subjects -- 1300 extremely premature infants. bernita lewis also agreed to enroll her baby, christian, in the "support" study at the same hospital. 27 weeks. sharyl: how much did he weigh? bernita: he was 1 lb, 9 oz. he was very tiny. sharyl: she says a hospital worker told her the study was just to collect data. bernita: she asked would i be interested in christian being in they wanted to use his medical future. and i told them absolutely, they wanted to use. was a possible risk of death? bernita: no, there were no risks d

sharrissa: he would fit in your hand. sharyl: shortly after his birth at the university of alabama at birmingham, sharrissa agreed to enroll dreshan in a study called

, sharrissa agreed to

his mother sharrissa was barely born. sharrissa cook: i remember the was a hysterical wreck. i was afraid, i was scared, i sharyl: how big was he, do you remember? sharrissa: he would fit in your hand.

sharyl: how big sharrissa: he would fit in yourortly after his birth

his mother sharrissa was barely