PATIENTS SUE OVER LSD TREATMENT SIDE EFFECTS

Eighty former psychiatric patients are to sue the NHS after being prescribed
the hallucinogen LSD without giving their consent. The patients, who were
treated at psychiatric hospitals across Britain during the 1950s and 1960s,
claim to have suffered damaging side effects.

The action, which will be heard in the high court next year, centres on
allegations that psychiatrists prescribed the unlicensed drug for a wide
range of conditions without receiving proper consent or fully understanding
the implications of treatment. More than 20 NHS authorities are involved and
a deadline of February 2000 was yesterday set for claimants wishing to join
the litigation.

David Harris, senior partner at Alexander Harris, solicitor for the
claimants, said: "In the 1950s through to the early 1970s LSD was
administered by the NHS for a wide range of conditions, on the basis that it
opened up patients' minds more quickly than going through a process of
normal therapy.

"Many of those who have come forward allege that they have suffered
long-term side effects including flashbacks, and for some the effects of the
LSD have been very traumatic."

The drug was given to patients suffering from conditions such as post-natal
depression and mild phobias. As well as violent flashbacks some of the
claimants complain of recurring nightmares and depression.

"LSD was not a licensed drug and all those whom we have spoken to believe
that they were not asked to give their consent," said Mr. Harris.

One patient who received LSD treatment in the early 60s claims she was given
the drug as a treatment in itself rather than as an accompaniment to
therapy, and that her complaints about the terrifying effects were ignored
by hospital staff.

"The first time they gave me the drug they gave it to me as a drink and left
me. I blacked out and it took nearly 24 hours until I recovered. It was a
frightening experience," said Valerie Bateson, who was 22 when she was
admitted to a Stockport hospital's psychiatric ward suffering from
post-natal depression in 1964.

"The bits I remember were terrifying - it was like walking through a thick
mist. Other people who were on the ward at the time have told me I would
scratch things and claw at the cuddly toys I'd brought with me. When I came
to they were all ripped up.

"I complained about it to the doctor and the second time they gave me a
smaller dose as an injection, which wasn't so bad as it only lasted six or
seven hours. But then another doctor said they didn't have time to give me
injections and that I had to drink the stronger dose.

"After that, each day I was due to take LSD I took holy communion in the
morning because I thought it was going to be my last day on earth," said
Mrs. Bateson.

After being discharged after three months, she developed monophobia, a
strong fear of being alone, and became unable to hold down a job, and has
not spent a day on her own for nearly 35 years. "If I'm on my own I just
can't function properly. It has ruined my life and my husband's. What I want
is a little bit of justice, and for the NHS to admit they shouldn't have
given it to us," she said.

Dr Tonmoy Sharma, head of cognitive psychopharmacology at the Institute of
Psychiatrists, said LSD was administered without any evidence that it could
be of benefit.

"I think it was used as an experimental treatment. There was no scientific
evidence at the time to support the case that LSD was beneficial. Today we
use cognitive techniques to deal with depression and phobias," he said.

A spokesman of Vizard Oldham, solicitors acting for the NHS, said: "We are
defending the action and are gathering expert evidence. The difficulty with
the case is that these things are alleged to have happened 30 or 40 years
ago, and not all the NHS staff involved are still alive."