Posted by sigismund on November 30, 2010, at 1:40:29
In reply to Re: please rephrase that » ed_uk2010, posted by sukarno on November 30, 2010, at 0:30:46
Paul, I have no liking for Scientology, its theory of our origin, its celebrity or its legal machine.
Nevertheless I cannot forget what happened at Chelmsford, and the fact that it was the CCHR(sp?) which pressed to expose the abuses.
>Deep sleep therapy was also notoriously practised (in combination with electroconvulsive therapy and other therapies) by Harry Bailey between 1962 and 1979 in Sydney, at the Chelmsford Private Hospital.
>As practised by Bailey, deep sleep therapy involved long periods of barbiturate-induced unconsciousness. DST was prescribed for various conditions ranging from schizophrenia and depression to obesity, PMS and addiction.
>Twenty-six patients died at Chelmsford Private Hospital during the 1960s and 1970s, with only perfunctory investigation by authorities. After the failure of the agencies of medical and criminal investigation to tackle complaints about Chelmsford, a series of articles in the early 1980s in the Sydney Morning Herald exposed the abuses at the hospital and forced the authorities to take action, and a Royal Commission was appointed.[2] In 1978 Sydney psychiatrist Brian Boettcher had convened a meeting of doctors working at Chelmsford and found there was little support for deep sleep therapy (Harry Bailey did not attend). However the treatment continued to be used into the following year.[3] In the report of the Royal Commission, it was determined that the deaths had been disclosed after the doctors' meeting called by Boettcher; and the commission recommended that Boettcher be commended for his actions. Subsequently the Australian Medical Association gave him an award for outstanding services to psychiatry.[citation needed] Legal action on behalf of former patients was and is still being pursued in New South Wales.[4][5][6] Those treated at Chelmsford included Stevie Wright, the former lead singer of the 1960s pop band The Easybeats; another was musician Bobby Limb. Limb was one of the ex-patients of Chelmsford who took part in the 1992 documentary about the deep sleep scandal, Deep Sleep, made for Channel Four in the UK's Secret History series by filmmaker John Edginton. The film was also shown on ABC Television in Australia and A&E in America.I should add that the Royal Commission established that over 100 former patients had been permanently damaged by the treatment.
So, I'm ambivalent.
poster:sigismund
thread:967761
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20100403/msgs/971882.html