Therapy: Shocks, drugs and civil lawsuits

>> Left out of an earlier group settlement, Gail Kastner is suing the federal government for brainwashing her

by CRAIG SEGAL

Zella Kastner said it's taken her nearly half a century to come to grips with the fact that her twin sister Gail received massive electric shocks and mind-altering drugs as part of her treatment at the Allan Memorial Institue.

"She tried to tell me they were shocking her for 60 seconds at a time. I've finally come to terms with what 60 seconds means: one... two... three... four... five... six... seven..." Kastner told Quebec Superior Court last week. Zella Kastner is a healthier version of her sister, with the same short haircut.

"When she said, 'They're killing me with shock treatments,' I didn't believe her."

Gail Kastner, 66, is the latest to sue over treatments received by Dr. Ewen Cameron. Cameron was a psychiatrist at the Royal Victoria Hospital's Allan Memorial Institute who received grants from the federal government and the CIA for brainwashing experiments in the '50s and '60s. He died in 1967.

The Canadian government paid out $100,000 to nearly 80 of Cameron's patients in 1992 as part of the Allan Memorial Institute Depatterned Persons Assistance Plan. Though she applied, Kastner was deemed undeserving of compensation for lack of evidence. Kastner is now suing the Vic and the government for $4.2 million.

Before she entered the Allan in 1953, Gail Kastner was first in her class at Strathcona Academy High School and had been to McGill University, her sister said. After the Allan, she sucked her thumb, wet her pants and tried to kill herself.

Barrel o' yuks
Despite the apparent severity of the trial, the judge and lawyers cracked numerous jokes during the proceedings. Many jokes centred on the relative sanity of lawyers compared to doctors. Lighter jokes revolved around Kastner's lawyer's vast brainpower, and the judge's confusing the Queen Elizabeth Hotel with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. At most the jokes caused Kastner to interrupt her grim straight-faced staring to write a note to her lawyer.

Kastner alleges that she received "massive electroshock treatments" (ECTs), 63 in total, and was fed dozens of drugs she didn't need. The hospital's lawyers are arguing that Kastner was schizophrenic, and was given proper treatment for her condition according to the medical standards of that time. But a psychiatrist who treated Kastner after her stay at the Allan testified that Kastner has never been schizophrenic. Dr. Pierre Louis said Kastner had flashbacks of someone's "blue eyes" and a strange room. He attributes these to Cameron.

"I think obviously that the treatment she received at the Allan Memorial could have been the cause of her psychological conditions," Dr. Louis testified. "Instead of helping her, the medical profession damaged her."

Kastner's lawyer, Alan Stein, said he expects the case to continue at least until Friday, January 14. :

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