Settlement Reached in CIA Brainwashing Case
A 79-year old Montreal resident has reached a settlement with the Canadian government over being subjected to years of experimental brainwashing treatments. Janine Huard was a mother of four who was suffering from post-partum depression and who became a patient of Dr. Ewan Cameron at the Allen Memorial Institute in 1950. Over the next fifteen years, Huard would be subjected to electroconvulsive therapy, LSD, and and experimental pills as part of Dr. Cameron's "psychic driving" program designed to delete harmful memories and rebuild psyches. The CIA began funding Dr. Cameron's research in 1950 as part of the larger MK-ULTRA mind control program designed to explore the brainwashing potential of LSD and other experimental treatments. Between 1950 and 1964, hundreds of Dr. Cameron's patients were included in his experiments involving induced comas and brainwashing resulting in long-term impairments for many of them.
As a result of the treatments, Janine Huard was left with severe memory problems and chronic migraines which left her unable to care for her children. She was one of nine Canadians who received a cash settlement from the CIA in 1988 but her attempt to secure a similar settlement from the Canadian government (which co-funded the research) was rebuffed for many years. She launched a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Dr. Cameron's surviving patients which led to the current settlement for an undisclosed sum.
"I was really so exhausted from fighting for so many years," Huard told the Canadian Press in an interview. "I don't think it's enough after having been hurt so much, and my kids and family … but at least justice has been done a little bit."
While the class-action launched by Huard's lawyer has been withdrawn, further litigation on behalf of other patients is expected.
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