Vetrans sue CIA

[revelarts]

http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/08/27/29919.htm

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - The Vietnam Veterans of America asked a federal judge to impose sanctions on the Central Intelligence Agency, for failing to produce documents on the CIA's testing of hundreds of kinds of drugs - including sarin and phosgene nerve gas and LSD - on thousands of soldiers.
The Vietnam Veterans of America sued the CIA in January 2009, claiming the agency had experimented on soldiers at Edgewood Arsenal and Fort Detrick, Md., testing the effects of mind-controlling drugs.
The VVA says soldiers were treated "in the same capacity as laboratory rats or guinea pigs." The underlying federal complaint claims that at least 7,800 soldiers were subjected to "at least 250, but as many as 400 chemical and biological agents."
This original complaint, filed in January 2009, claimed that "this vast program of human experimentation, shrouded in secrecy," was done without informed consent of the soldier-guinea pigs. "In 1970, defendants provided Congress with an alphabetical list showing that they had tested 145 drugs during Projects Bluebird, Artichoke, MKULTRA and MKDELTA." These drugs included sarin and other deadly nerve toxins, barbiturates, irritants, including cyanide, phosgene nerve gas, LSC, PCP and other psychedelics, THC "about times the then-street strength of marijuana," and tranquilizers.
In its request for sanctions, the Vietnam Veterans claims the CIA stalled discovery, in bad faith, by refusing to turn over requested documents related to the secretive project, without adequate explanation.
It claims the CIA has released only about 1,600 documents, and 40 percent of them "deal only with the six individual plaintiffs' military records and Veterans Administration claim files."
The complaint adds: "Defendants have continually resisted producing relevant documents by standing on myriad objections and unsubstantiated claims of privilege. ... Even more unbelievably, it appears that defendants have yet to search even the most obvious location for documents - Edgewood Arsenal itself. ...
"Defendants also consistently refused to enter into a routine protective order that would protect information subject to the Privacy Act or HIPAA from disclosure or use outside of this litigation, thereby permitting its production to plaintiffs. Instead, defendants have refused to produce documents containing such information, or have produced documents with such information wholly redacted. For example, defendants used the Privacy Act as a basis for withholding the names of all Edgewood test subjects other than the named plaintiffs, despite the fact that the test subjects are all potential class members and percipient witnesses. (Vecchio Decl. ¶ 6, Ex. A.) Defendants have also used the Privacy Act as an excuse to withhold documents concerning individuals who conducted the test programs. These categorical refusals to provide the names of critical witnesses, when a routine protective order could have obviated any of defendants' concerns, have unnecessarily delayed discovery and prejudiced plaintiffs."
Oral arguments in the case are to begin Sept. 29

[revelarts]

I think this is follow up to this case ... or it's a different case.

Vietnam Veterans of America, et al. v. Central Intelligence Agency, et al.
Case No. CV-09-0037-CW, U.S.D.C. (N.D. Cal. 2009)

In this class action, the Plaintiff class sought declaratory and injunctive relief to redress decades of the U.S. Government’s use of them as human test subjects in chemical and biological agent testing experiments, followed by decades of neglect:
Test subjects have been released from oaths of secrecy: 2011 Secrecy Oath Release
On November 19, 2013, the Court ordered the Army to provide Notice: “the Army has an ongoing duty to warn members of the class about newly acquired information that may affect their well-being now and in the future as it becomes available,” including “effects upon their health which may possibly come from such participation”
On April 4, 2017, the Court ordered the Army to provide Medical Care: “the Army has an ongoing duty to provide medical care to the members of the class for any injury or disease that is the proximate result of their participation in Defendant’s chemical or biological substance testing programs”
To apply for medical care from the Army under the Court’s injunction, submit an Application for Medical Care to: U.S. Army Public Health Center (USAPHC), ATTN: Benefits Application Panel, 5158 Blackhawk Road, APG, MD 21010-5403. For more information, please see the Army’s October 2017 letter, and the Army’s follow up May 2018 letter, containing answers to some class member questions. To request notice information, you can submit a Form 2870 Request for the Army to search its databases and provide you with information about your testing participation. If you have questions or need assistance, please call the Army’s toll-free hotline at 1-800-984-8523.

https://edgewoodtestvets.org

Media Coverage
Tested Vietnam Veterans Win Medical Care ---- [The National Law Journal; 4/30/18]
Veterans In Army's Chemical Experiments Say Time Is Running Out ---- [Texas Public Radio; 2/28/18]

Thousands of veterans could still bear scars of Army’s Cold War bio-chemical tests ---- [The News & Observer; 11/29/17]

For Veterans Mustard-Gassed In Secret Tests, Help Now Sits On President's Desk ---- [NPR; 8/3/17]

WWII Veteran, Who Fought To Expose Secret Mustard Gas Experiments, Dies ---- [NPR; 5/30/16]

Veterans Used In Secret Experiments Sue Military For Answers ---- [NPR; 9/5/15]

Vets who were experiment subjects win court ruling ---- [San Francisco Chronicle; 6/30/15]

How NPR Located More Veterans Exposed To Mustard Gas Than The VA ---- [NPR; 6/26/15]

Lawmakers Promise To Take Action After NPR's Mustard Gas Exposure Report ---- [NPR; 6/24/15]

The VA’s Broken Promise To Thousands Of Vets Exposed To Mustard Gas ---- [NPR; 6/23/15]

Secret World War II Chemical Experiments Tested Troops By Race ---- [NPR; 6/22/15]

‘Human Guinea Pigs’ Take Case to 9th Circuit ---- [Courthouse News Service; 9/12/14]

9th Circuit Court of Appeals Oral Argument (audio) ---- [9/11/14]

Primary Sources: Operation Delirium ---- [The New Yorker; 12/26/12]

Operation Delirium: Decades after a risky Cold War experiment, a scientist lives with secrets ---- [The New Yorker; 12/17/12]

High Anxiety: LSD in the Cold War ---- [The New Yorker; 12/16/12]
War of the Mind ---- [The New Yorker; 12/12/12]

Manufacturing Madness ---- [The New Yorker; 12/11/12]

Secret Army volunteer’s widow blames VA for spouse’s death ---- [CNN; 3/3/12]

Vets feel abandoned after secret drug experiments ---- [CNN; 3/1/12]

links here
https://edgewoodtestvets.org/media-coverage/

"for the greater good"
& I'm sure they don't do anything like this anymore.

[AHZ]