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Pubdate: Thu, 18 Jan 2007
Source: Argosy, The (CN NK Edu)
Janine Huard was one of hundreds of people Dr. Ewen Cameron experimented
on without their knowledge in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Last week, her lawyers argued before a federal court judge that she should be
allowed to file a class-action lawsuit against the government of Canada, who
funded the experiments jointly with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (
CIA ).
Cameron first treated Huard in 1951 when she went to see him for post-partum
depression. She continued to see the doctor until 1962, during which time
she served unknowingly as a participant in Cameron's behaviour-control
experiments.
As director of McGill's Allan Memorial Institute, Cameron developed
"psychic driving," a technique that he hoped would cure mental
patients by erasing their memories and constructing a new psyche for them.
Cameron used electroshock, sensory deprivation and drugs such as LSD to "depattern"
his patients, returning them to a childlike state and leaving them open to
suggestions from recordings played over and over again while they slept.
His work attracted the attention of the CIA, which, from 1957 to 1960, funded
his research as part of the infamous Project MK-ULTRA, aimed at developing
techniques to control behaviour.
According to testimony before a 1977 U.S. Senate committee, MK-ULTRA also
saw LSD administered to U.S. prison inmates and patrons of brothels
without their knowledge.
Huard received US$67,000 from the CIA in 1988 as compensation for her suffering,
but has been denied similar compensation from the Canadian government three
times on the grounds that she was not fully depatterned. In 1994, the
government handed out $100 000 to each of 77 of Cameron's former patients.
Another 253 claims were rejected.
In a book on the experiments first published in 1988, author Anne Collins
supports the government's contention, writing that although Huard was exposed to
electric shock and drugs "to the point that she had suffered extended
periods of involuntary trembling," she was not actually depatterned.
Alan Stein, Huard's lawyer, disputed this claim.
"In my opinion, [Huard] was totally depatterned. She was subjected to
not only electroshock treatment but also psychic driving," he said.
So far, the court has not decided whether to allow the class-action suit to
proceed. The government is contesting the application on the grounds that
Huard waited too long to file the suit -- Cameron died more than 40 years ago,
and it has been 10 years since the court rejected her last claim.
But in 2004, the court overturned another decision from 1994, and awarded Gail
Kastner $100 000. Kastner was among the claimants who were not awarded the
federal government's compensation package. Her treatments were found to be
less intense, with fewer long term effects.
Stein was unwilling to express optimism that the court would ultimately allow
the suit to proceed. However, he said that the merits of the case and the
exceptional circumstances surrounding it were strong enough to justify a
decision in Huard's favour. He also encouraged the public to write letters
in support of Huard to Justice Minister Robert Nicholson.
Stein added that he was surprised and disappointed that McGill has not made a
public statement about the case, or apologized for what happened to Huard.
At press time, no McGill official would comment on the matter