Veteran Class Certified in Drug 'Guinea Pig' Case
A federal judge certified a class action lawsuit that could send thousands of Vietnam veterans into treatment for diseases they contracted during Cold War-era drug and chemical experiments.
The Army and the CIA, with the help of Nazi scientists, used veterans as human guinea pigs for testing the effects of up to 400 types of drugs and chemicals, including mescaline, LSD, amphetamines, barbiturates, mustard gas and nerve agents, the Vietnam Veterans of America and individual soldiers claimed in a 2009 class action .
Veterans say the government was trying to develop and test substances that could trigger mind control, confusion, euphoria, altered personality, unconsciousness, physical paralysis, illogical thinking and mania, among other effects.
The experiments in Army compounds at Edgewood Arsenal and Fort Detrick, Md., allegedly left many veterans with debilitating health problems for decades.
The government has since refused to give them proper medical care, according to the lawsuit.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken granted the plaintiffs class action status, potentially opening up thousands of veterans to three types of relief.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/10/02/50876.htm
