CIA Tries Again to Duck Responsibility for Doing Drug Experiments on Veterans

CIA Tries Again to Duck Responsibility for Doing Drug Experiments on Veterans

By MARIA DINZEO December 14, 2010 SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - The Central Intelligence Agency in January will argue for dismissal of Vietnam veterans' claims that the CIA must provide them with information about the health effects of chemicals used on them during Cold War-era human experiments. The CIA also claims it is not obligated to provide the veterans with medical care for side effects of the drugs. It's the CIA's third attempt to get the case dismissed.

In a 2009 federal lawsuit, Vietnam Veterans of America claimed that the Army and CIA had used at least 7,800 soldiers as guinea pigs in "Project Paperclip." They were given at least 250 and as many as 400 types of drugs, among them sarin, one of the most deadly drugs known to man, amphetamines, barbiturates, mustard gas, phosgene gas and LSD.

Among the project's goals were to control human behavior, develop drugs that would cause confusion, promote weakness or temporarily cause loss of hearing or vision, create a drug to induce hypnosis and identify drugs that could enhance a person's ability to withstand torture.

The veterans say that some of the soldiers died, and others suffered grand mal seizures, epileptic seizures and paranoia. The veterans say the CIA promised in the 1970s to compensate those who were made guinea pigs, but the 2009 complaint states that the government "never made a sincere effort to locate the survivors."

In its 32-page motion to dismiss the group's third amended complaint, the CIA claims it has no legal obligation under the Administrative Procedures Act to provide the veterans with notice of the drugs' health effects and that the veterans' notice claim "rests solely on state common-law duty."

The CIA claims that the law on which the veterans base their claim for health care compensation stems from the Department of Defense and Army regulations, "which do not purport to have a binding affect on the CIA." And it claims that the Defense Department "never intended nor committed to providing medical care for service member participants in the test programs."
https://www.courthousenews.com/2010/12/14/32562.htm


UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
OAKLAND DIVISION VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA, et al.,
Plaintiffs, v. CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, et al.,
Defendants. Case No. CV 09-0037-CW Noticed Motion Date and Time:
January 13, 2011 2:00 p.m. DEFENDANTS’ PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFFS’ THIRD AMENDED COMPLAINT
http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/12/14/CIADismiss.pdf

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTNORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA -
OAKLAND DIVISION VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA, et al.,
Plaintiffs, v. CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, et al.,
Defendants. Case No. CV 09-0037-CW PLAINTIFFS’ OPPOSITION TO
DEFENDANTS’ PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS THIRD AMENDED COMPLAINT
Date: January 13, 2011 http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/12/14/VetsvCIA.pdf