Report: VA lobotomized 2,000 disturbed veterans
Dec. 11, 2013 Staff report
The U.S. government lobotomized roughly 2,000 mentally ill veterans — and likely hundreds more — during and after World War II, according to a cache of forgotten memos, letters and government reports unearthed by The Wall Street Journal....
Besieged by psychologically damaged troops returning from the battlefields of North Africa, Europe and the Pacific, the Veterans Administration performed the brain-altering operation on former servicemen it diagnosed as depressives, psychotics and schizophrenics, and occasionally on people identified as homosexuals, according to the report.
The VA’s use of lobotomy, in which doctors severed connections between parts of the brain then thought to control emotions, was known in medical circles in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and is occasionally cited in medical texts. But the VA’s practice, never widely publicized, long ago slipped from public view. Even the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says it possesses no records detailing the creation and breadth of its lobotomy program.
The Wall Street Journal’s reporting series began with Wednesday’s Forgotten Soldiers and included a documentary, archived photos, maps and medical records.
http://www.armytimes.com/article/20131211/NEWS/312110013/Report-VA-lobotomized-2-000-disturbed-veterans
Lobotomy For World War II Veterans Psychiatric Care by U.S. Government
Between April 1, 1947, and Sept. 30, 1950, VA doctors lobotomized 1,464 veterans at 50 hospitals authorized to perform the surgery, according to agency documents rediscovered by the Journal. Scores of records from 22 of those hospitals list another 466 lobotomies performed outside that time period, bringing the total documented operations to 1,930. Gaps in the records suggest that hundreds of additional operations likely took place at other VA facilities. The vast majority of the patients were men, although some female veterans underwent VA lobotomies, as well.
http://projects.wsj.com/lobotomyfiles/
Showing posts with label U.S. government. Show all posts
Showing posts with label U.S. government. Show all posts
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Friday, April 13, 2012
CIA 'Guinea Pig' Case, Cult Members Rituals, U.S. priests - 700 cases in 2011
"at least 7,800 soldiers had been used as guinea pigs in Project Paperclip"
articles:
- Vets Get More Discovery in CIA 'Guinea Pig' Case
- Brazilian cult members accused of cannibalistic ritual
- U.S. priests accused in 700 sex cases in 2011: report
Vets Get More Discovery in CIA 'Guinea Pig' Case
By NICK MCCANN Monday, April 09, 2012
OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) - The Department of Veterans Affairs must disclose certain documents that a class of veterans hopes will prove they were used as guinea pigs by the CIA in Cold War-era drug experiments, a federal judge ruled.
Vietnam Veterans of America filed a class action against the U.S. government in 2009, claiming that at least 7,800 soldiers had been used as guinea pigs in Project Paperclip. The experiments were allegedly conducted at the Baltimore-area Edgewood Arsenal.
Soldiers were allegedly administered at least 250 and as many as 400 types of drugs, among them Sarin, one of the most deadly drugs known, amphetamines, barbiturates, mustard gas, phosgene gas and LSD.
Using tactics it often attributed to the Soviet enemy, the U.S. government sought drugs to control human behavior, cause confusion, promote weakness or temporary loss of hearing and vision, induce hypnosis and enhance a person's ability to withstand torture, according to the complaint.
The veterans say that some soldiers died, and others suffered seizures and paranoia.
They say the CIA knew it had to conceal the tests from "enemy forces" and the "American public in general" because the knowledge "would have serious repercussions in political and diplomatic circles and would be detrimental to the accomplishment of its mission."
The veterans' claims have changed over the course of discovery, and there are four remaining legal claims against the CIA, Defense Department, Army and Department of Veterans Affairs:
"1) whether the DOD and Army failed to provide adequate notice to test participants including notice of chemicals to which they were exposed and any known health effects; 2) whether the DOD and Army failed to provide medical care to test participants for any conditions arising out of participation in testing programs; 3) whether the Army, DOD, and CIA have failed to release participants from secrecy oaths; and 4) whether the Department of Veterans Affairs is an inherently biased decision-maker."
The veterans are still fighting for access to certain documents that the four agencies have withheld from discovery as privileged.
The government is required to provide a privilege log explaining the reason why certain documents or information is not available....
Veterans can also access an encrypted mailbox that DVA Affairs created to verify test subjects in mustard gas and Edgewood Arsenal experiments, Corley said, but it would be too burdensome for the department to produce 650 veteran claim files related to mustard gas exposure.
"Plaintiffs contend that the government failed to notify tens of thousands of individuals that they had been exposed to mustard gas and lewisite," the decision states. "The contents of the claim files of the 650 individuals who filed claims based on their exposure will shed little if any light on plaintiffs' notice claims.".... http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/04/09/45455.htm
Brazilian cult members accused of cannibalistic ritual
By Agence France-Presse Friday, April 13, 2012
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian police announced Friday that they had arrested a man and two women on suspicion of having murdered and cannibalized at least two women in what was described as a purification ritual.
The three defendants formed a sect called “Cartel” that seeks to purify the world and reduce the population, police spokesman Democrito Honorato from the northeastern Brazilian town of Guaranhuns told AFP.
The three defendants, Jorge and Elizabeth Pires da Silveira, both 51, and Bruna da Silva, 25, intended to kill three women per year, police said.... http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/13/brazilia-cult-members-accused-of-cannibalistic-ritual/
U.S. priests accused in 700 sex cases in 2011: report
By Agence France-Presse
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
WASHINGTON — About 700 people launched new claims of sexual abuse against Catholic clergy in the United States last year, including 21 who are still minors, according to a new report released by US bishops.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said in the report released Tuesday that of the 683 adults who reported allegations for the first time, “most allegations reported today are of incidents from previous decades.”
Sixty-eight percent of the complaints relate to events that took place between 1960 and 1984 — the majority from 1975 to 1979, the report says.
Many of the clergy members accused have since died, or been relieved of their church duties. More than 280 of them had been accused in the past, it said.... http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/11/u-s-priests-accused-in-700-sex-cases-in-2011-report/
articles:
- Vets Get More Discovery in CIA 'Guinea Pig' Case
- Brazilian cult members accused of cannibalistic ritual
- U.S. priests accused in 700 sex cases in 2011: report
Vets Get More Discovery in CIA 'Guinea Pig' Case
By NICK MCCANN Monday, April 09, 2012
OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) - The Department of Veterans Affairs must disclose certain documents that a class of veterans hopes will prove they were used as guinea pigs by the CIA in Cold War-era drug experiments, a federal judge ruled.
Vietnam Veterans of America filed a class action against the U.S. government in 2009, claiming that at least 7,800 soldiers had been used as guinea pigs in Project Paperclip. The experiments were allegedly conducted at the Baltimore-area Edgewood Arsenal.
Soldiers were allegedly administered at least 250 and as many as 400 types of drugs, among them Sarin, one of the most deadly drugs known, amphetamines, barbiturates, mustard gas, phosgene gas and LSD.
Using tactics it often attributed to the Soviet enemy, the U.S. government sought drugs to control human behavior, cause confusion, promote weakness or temporary loss of hearing and vision, induce hypnosis and enhance a person's ability to withstand torture, according to the complaint.
The veterans say that some soldiers died, and others suffered seizures and paranoia.
They say the CIA knew it had to conceal the tests from "enemy forces" and the "American public in general" because the knowledge "would have serious repercussions in political and diplomatic circles and would be detrimental to the accomplishment of its mission."
The veterans' claims have changed over the course of discovery, and there are four remaining legal claims against the CIA, Defense Department, Army and Department of Veterans Affairs:
"1) whether the DOD and Army failed to provide adequate notice to test participants including notice of chemicals to which they were exposed and any known health effects; 2) whether the DOD and Army failed to provide medical care to test participants for any conditions arising out of participation in testing programs; 3) whether the Army, DOD, and CIA have failed to release participants from secrecy oaths; and 4) whether the Department of Veterans Affairs is an inherently biased decision-maker."
The veterans are still fighting for access to certain documents that the four agencies have withheld from discovery as privileged.
The government is required to provide a privilege log explaining the reason why certain documents or information is not available....
Veterans can also access an encrypted mailbox that DVA Affairs created to verify test subjects in mustard gas and Edgewood Arsenal experiments, Corley said, but it would be too burdensome for the department to produce 650 veteran claim files related to mustard gas exposure.
"Plaintiffs contend that the government failed to notify tens of thousands of individuals that they had been exposed to mustard gas and lewisite," the decision states. "The contents of the claim files of the 650 individuals who filed claims based on their exposure will shed little if any light on plaintiffs' notice claims.".... http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/04/09/45455.htm
Brazilian cult members accused of cannibalistic ritual
By Agence France-Presse Friday, April 13, 2012
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian police announced Friday that they had arrested a man and two women on suspicion of having murdered and cannibalized at least two women in what was described as a purification ritual.
The three defendants formed a sect called “Cartel” that seeks to purify the world and reduce the population, police spokesman Democrito Honorato from the northeastern Brazilian town of Guaranhuns told AFP.
The three defendants, Jorge and Elizabeth Pires da Silveira, both 51, and Bruna da Silva, 25, intended to kill three women per year, police said.... http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/13/brazilia-cult-members-accused-of-cannibalistic-ritual/
U.S. priests accused in 700 sex cases in 2011: report
By Agence France-Presse
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
WASHINGTON — About 700 people launched new claims of sexual abuse against Catholic clergy in the United States last year, including 21 who are still minors, according to a new report released by US bishops.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said in the report released Tuesday that of the 683 adults who reported allegations for the first time, “most allegations reported today are of incidents from previous decades.”
Sixty-eight percent of the complaints relate to events that took place between 1960 and 1984 — the majority from 1975 to 1979, the report says.
Many of the clergy members accused have since died, or been relieved of their church duties. More than 280 of them had been accused in the past, it said.... http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/11/u-s-priests-accused-in-700-sex-cases-in-2011-report/
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