Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
Medical Experiment Allan Memorial Institute Class Action Overview:
- Who: About 55 families of people who underwent medical experimentation in the 50s and 60s are suing the Canadian government, the Royal Victoria Hospital and the McGill University Health Centre.
- Why: The families say the government funded psychiatric treatments, such as chemically induced sleep for weeks, electroshocks and experimental drugs, that harmed people.
- Where: The hospital was in Montreal.
A lawsuit alleging the Canadian government funded an experimental psychiatric program that brainwashed subjects and put people through dangerous treatments like electroshocks and untested drugs is moving forward.
About 55 families of victims who underwent medical experimentation in the 1950s and 1960s have filed a lawsuit against the Canadian government, the Royal Victoria Hospital and the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC).
While the defendants had filed a motion to have the case partially dismissed, on Feb. 23, the Quebec Superior Court rejected the request, CBC reports.
The families are suing for more than CAD$50 million to compensate all the families that were harmed.
According to the plaintiffs, the Government of Canada funded psychiatric treatments by Dr. Ewen Cameron at the Allan Memorial Institute from 1950 to 1964.
They say the government played a role in the supervision and control of these experiments, which were part of the CIA’s MK-ULTRA program of covert mind control.
Recent reports into the experiments have laid out how, during the Cold War, the CIA secretly funded mind-control experiments on unwitting Canadians in the program codenamed MK-ULTRA.
The experiments laid the groundwork for modern-day torture techniques, CBC reports.
Families Not the Same After Psychiatric Experiments, Plaintiffs Say
One of the lead plaintiffs, Alison Steel, told CBC her mother was never the same after undergoing experiments at the Allan Memorial Institute.
The plaintiffs allege that treatments included experimental drugs, putting patients into chemically induced sleep for weeks and rounds of electroshocks.
“She just wasn’t there for me; she wasn’t emotional,” Steel said. “I believe I suffered as a child even though I love my mother.”
Lawyer Alan Stein says the lawsuit is seeking about CAD$1 million per family on top of legal costs to compensate them for their harm.
The MUHC told CBC the doctor had acted independently and was not considered by law to be an employee of the Royal Victoria Hospital.
Last year, another class action lawsuit was filed in Canada alleging indigenous patients housed at tuberculosis hospitals constructed specifically for them were subjected to mistreatment that included sexual abuse and experimental treatments.
What do you think of the allegations in this case? Let us know in the comments!
Don’t Miss Out!
Check out our list of Class Action Lawsuits and Class Action Settlements you may qualify to join!
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
