She had an ulcer. Doctors lied—and injected her with plutonium | The Truth of the Matter

What was supposed to be a short hospital stay turned into a nightmare that would follow one family for generations.

41-year-old Janet Stadt entered a hospital in Rochester, New York, seeking treatment for an ulcer. She never consented to becoming a human test subject. Yet in 1946, doctors secretly injected her with plutonium — a radioactive element used to build atomic bombs — to study how it behaved inside the human body.

Stadt was one of at least 18 Americans injected with plutonium during the early days of the Cold War, when scientists were racing to understand the effects of nuclear materials on humans. Just a little over five feet tall, she received the highest dose of all the test subjects. The plutonium remained in her body for the rest of her life, causing crippling pain and unexplained illness.

For decades, Stadt suffered repeated cancers and extreme medical complications. Her family was never told the truth. Her family now says they suspected she was a hypochondriac, or “making it all up” until years later, when a mysterious box arrived on her grandson Jon Stadt’s doorstep, revealing what had really happened.

In this episode of "The Truth of the Matter," investigative journalist Natasha Zouves sits down with Jon Stadt to uncover the hidden history of America’s secret human radiation experiments — and the devastating personal toll they left behind.

In this episode of The Truth of the Matter, investigative journalist Natasha Zouves sits down with Jon Stadt to uncover the hidden history of America’s secret human radiation experiments—and the devastating personal toll they left behind.

#InvestigativeJournalism #TrueStory #HiddenHistory #HumanExperimentation #MedicalEthics #GovernmentSecrets #Plutonium #RadiationExperiments #ManhattanProject #ColdWarHistory #AtomicAge #NuclearHistory #UntoldStories #Whistleblower #Journalism #HistoricalTruth #MedicalAbuse #InformedConsent #AmericanHistory #newsnation #NatashaZouves

The Truth of the Matter with Natasha Zouves isn’t just another podcast — it’s a fight to uncover what powerful institutions want hidden. From secret human experiments the government carried out on unsuspecting citizens to toxic cover-ups poisoning communities, Emmy and Murrow Award-winning journalist Natasha Zouves brings you the stories people in power don’t want told.

We expose evidence buried in archives, amplify the voices of those who’ve been silenced, and hold the powerful accountable. From radioactive “oatmeal experiments” on children, to cancer causing chemicals destroying farms, to veterans erased from history — these are the stories that matter.

This is journalism that refuses to look away. The Truth of the Matter is about transparency, and justice for the people left behind.

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Find Natasha Zouves:

WATCH our Cold War investigation in St. Louis, where a neighborhood was experimented on without consent

WATCH our podcast episode on human experiments spun out of the Manhattan Project