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The Polio Vaccine's Cutter Incident of 1955
Description
The announcement of the Salk polio vaccine in April 1955 was met with celebration across America. But within weeks, that joy turned to fear when some vaccinated children developed polio. A manufacturing failure at Cutter Laboratories had allowed live virus into thousands of vaccine doses, resulting in one of the most serious medical errors in U.S. history.
The tragedy prompted sweeping reforms. Rather than abandoning the vaccine, scientists, regulators, and manufacturers strengthened testing, oversight, and production standards to ensure it could be used safely. Those changes restored public confidence—and helped pave the way for the elimination of wild polio from the United States by 1979.
In this episode of History Shorts, we explore the Cutter Incident, the lessons it taught, and how it reshaped vaccine safety for generations to come.
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