[ad_1]
In October 1956, a 52-year-old unskilled worker is taken to Königsfelden by ambulance. He hasn’t worked in weeks and slept poorly. On the third day after admission, doctors begin a “Geigy cure.” The reason for the medication is not clear from the medical history.
The man is one of hundreds of patients on whom unapproved drugs were tested at the Königsfelden Psychiatric Clinic. This is demonstrated by a study by the Institute of Medical History of the University of Bern. The study was commissioned by the Aargau Government Council and Psychiatric Services (PDAG). It goes back to a postulate of the Grand Councilor of SP Florian Vock. The results of the investigation were presented to the public on Wednesday.
31 different preparations were administered to ignorant patients
The study author, Urs Germann, examined about 830 medical records of patients who were treated at Königsfelden between 1950 and 1990. In addition to the “Geigy remedy”, another 30 test preparations administered to the patients could be identified in the documents examined. patients. Between 1955 and 1960 a large number of experiments were carried out. From then on, the drug tests were “quite sporadic.”
The study could not conclusively clarify how many people the substances were tested on. However, based on the random sample, it can be assumed that several hundred patients participated in the period examined. Most of the patients were not informed about drug trials or gave their consent. According to the study, there is no evidence that patients consented to testing during the period prior to 1980. Conclusion: “Drug trials were conducted in an ethical and legal gray area.”
The distribution of unauthorized drugs was the norm in Swiss psychiatry since the 1950s. Drug testing has not only been carried out in Königsfelden. Last year a study on drug trials was published at the Münsterlingen TG Psychiatric Clinic. Between 1946 and 1980, at least 3,000 patients were affected there. In Zurich and Basel, unapproved psychotropic drugs were also administered to patients. Therefore, scientists recommend a review that focuses on the whole of Switzerland.
Children and young people were part of the experiments
In Aargau, children and young people were also victims of these attempts. The study that has now been published provides only superficial findings in this regard. However, the author recommends an in-depth analysis of the situation in child and adolescent psychiatry. It describes the case of a ten-year-old boy who was investigated at the Rüfenach observation station in 1980 and was part of a drug study. One must assume that other children participated in the same study, he writes. It is not clear whether other drugs have been tried in Rüfenach. There were also drug trials in children and adolescents at the Schürmatt Foundation in Zetzwil.
In 2007, a child psychiatrist mentioned a “small series of scientific drug tests” in his autobiography. It is established that since the fall of 1967 he had given a total of 17 children with cognitive disabilities a strong depressive training. This was tested in adults in the second half of the 1960s, but it was not marketed due to serious side effects.
Government oversight was insufficient
The study further examined how the supervision of the Königsfelden Clinic was organized and how it worked. A commission headed by the responsible governing council was responsible. Since 1981, the management of the Königsfelden hospital had to expressly inform the commission about ongoing investigation activities. However, according to the study, the supervisory commission interpreted its monitoring task in medical matters as “long, extremely casual and superficial.” The clinic management enjoyed “the greatest possible autonomy” and trusted their competence.
Since then, much progress has been made in terms of supervisory practice, and the past is something the governing council wrote in a statement. The governing council takes note of the results of the study. Regrets that the person in question has been wronged and that the duty of supervision has been poorly performed. Jean-François Andrey, general director of the Psychiatric Services of Aargau, also expresses his condolences to those affected. It emphasizes that the current practice cannot be compared with that of then.
The study cost 38,000 francs. Around two thirds are financed by the Swisslos fund. PDAG contributed a third of the costs and paid for the preliminary investigations. It remains to be seen if any more in-depth clarifications will be made.
