WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 27, 2026) — Nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump, co-counsels William H. Murphy, Jr., Carol Lexing Powell, and the families of Ross Otto Hambrick and Victor Marcellus King will discuss the filing of a federal civil lawsuit against the United States of America during an upcoming news conference.
The new filing details that after Ross Otto and Victor’s deaths, both families learned that the infants were secretly enrolled as test subjects in an NIH-sponsored experimental RSV vaccine trial in 1965–66, without their knowledge or consent. Both boys died in January 1967. The complaint, brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act, alleges that the United States government, through the NIH, selected the most vulnerable children it could find — Black infants from low-income families — to test a dangerous, highly concentrated experimental vaccine known as “Lot 100.” The complaint alleges that tissue samples harvested from their autopsies decades later informed the development of RSV vaccines approved by the FDA in 2023, now generating billions in revenue. The families of Ross Otto and Victor have never been compensated or acknowledged for the role the infants’ deaths played in that breakthrough, as stated in the complaint.
The legal team is seeking justice on behalf of the Hambrick and King families, demanding full accountability from the United States government, and compensation for the immeasurable loss both families have endured for nearly sixty years.
WHO:
Family of Ross Otto Hambrick and Victor Marcellus King
Attorney Ben Crump
Attorney Malcolm P. Ruff
Attorney Nabeha Shaer
Attorney Carol Lexing Powell
WHEN:
Thursday, May 28, 2026, at 1 PM ET
WHERE:
633 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20004
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MEDIA CONTACT:
[email protected]
ABOUT BEN CRUMP LAW
Through his work, nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump has spearheaded a legal movement to better protect the rights of marginalized citizens. He has led landscape-changing civil rights cases and represented clients in a wide range of areas including civil rights, personal injury, labor and employment, class actions, and more. Ben Crump Law is dedicated to holding the powerful accountable. For more information, visit bencrump.com.
ABOUT MURPHY, FALCON & MURPHY
Through his work, Judge William H. “Billy” Murphy, Jr. has spent more than 55 years fighting for justice for the marginalized and the wronged. A Senior Partner at Murphy, Falcon & Murphy — which may be the oldest African-American-owned law firm in the country — Billy has secured landmark verdicts and settlements across civil rights, personal injury, and complex litigation, including a $44 million police brutality verdict and a $267 million verdict against a major bank. Candid and outspoken against police brutality and systemic injustice, Billy brings the same tenacity to every client he represents. For more information, visit murphyfalcon.com.
