Controversy
In July 2007 the public German TV-channel SWR claimed that Beecher was involved as scientific expert with CIA studies on human drug experiments in the 1950s and may have contributed with his work in the United States and in secret CIA-prisons in Western-Germany to the KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation document of 1963..
According to these recent reports, and also according to US-historian Alfred W. McCoy, Dr. Beecher was scientifically responsible for human experiments with drugs (e.g. mescaline) conducted by the CIA in post-war Germany. They took place in a secret CIA-prison located in "Villa Schuster" (later renamed to "Haus Waldhof") in Kronberg near Frankfurt, which was related to the nearby US-interrogation center Camp King (West-Germany). According to a witness, during these experiments, several interrogated individuals died. This report states that since September 1951, Beecher was frequently in Camp King and prepared human experiments, deliberated with the interrogation-staff of the CIA (called "rough boys") and recommended the test of various drugs. Several times he allegedly met with former Nazi-physician Walter Schreiber (at Camp King respectively in Villa Schuster) for an "exchange of ideas". Later Beecher described Schreiber in a report as "intelligent and cooperative."
The documents presented in the TV-documentation state that the US-army had sent reports about Nazi-experiments in concentration camps like Dachau concentration camp to Dr. Beecher for evaluation. The library of Harvard Medical School still possesses a report of the US-army about these Nazi-experiments that it inherited from Dr. Beecher, a report which he evaluated.
According to Koch, in January 1953, a depressive patient at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Hospital got—upon recommendation of Dr. Beecher—a mescaline-injection at 9:53, fell in a deep coma at 11:45 and died within half an hour.
Read more about this topic: Henry K. Beecher
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