Lawsuit alleges Indigenous people were subjected to medical experimentation

A class-action lawsuit filed last week blames the federal government for medical experiments allegedly performed on Indigenous people without their consent.

Launched in Regina by Tony Merchant, the lawsuit also alleges a long history of “discriminatory and inadequate” medical treatment, particularly at so-called Indian Hospitals, residential schools and tuberculosis sanatoriums across Canada.

Patients there were allegedly subjected to unnecessary medical procedures no longer used on non-Indigenous people — including a man who allegedly had part of a lung removed in the 1950s “for no reason whatsoever.”

Merchant said the lawsuit could involve thousands of patients. More than 100 have so far contacted his office. He said he will seek “substantial” punitive damages from the feds, potentially in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“It has to be substantial enough to make a point to the government that this kind of conduct is intolerable,” he said in an interview, adding that he expects the case to come before the courts in about eight months.

Merchant said the lawsuit is the first of its kind alleging a discriminatory standard of medical care at institutions like Indian Hospitals.

Some of the allegations were already publicly known, such as those relating to a string of nutritional experiments at residential schools. But others appear to be new allegations.

John B. Pambrun is the lead plaintiff in the case. According to the lawsuit, he spent about five years and eight months at tuberculosis sanatoriums in Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask., and Saskatoon, all before he turned 16.

On July 25, 1955, surgeons allegedly removed a portion of his right lung. The lawsuit claims that Pambrun did not even have tuberculosis. In any case, it alleges, antibiotics had already replaced surgery as the preferred treatment.

“The effects of the unnecessary removal of part of his right lung continues to affect John Pambrun to this day,” the lawsuit states. “It causes him to be short of breath. He has been restricted in his enjoyment of life.”

The statement of claim, which launches the lawsuit, contains allegations not yet proven in court.

The lawsuit lists a number of experiments that allegedly took place at Indian Hospitals, in sanatoriums and at residential schools. It alleges that researchers often failed to seek informed consent from the patients or, in the case of children, from their parents.

Several experiments involved tuberculosis vaccines or antibiotics, according to the lawsuit. In some cases, it alleges that experimental treatments were given over better alternatives.

Another experiment involved children with at least partial hearing loss who were allegedly given an experimental drug while at the Cecilia Jeffrey school in Kenora, Ont. The lawsuit claims that the treatment left nine students with “significant hearing loss.”

In some cases, the lawsuit alleges, patients were forced to comply.

“Class members were subject to physical abuse if they did not co-operate with the experimentation,” it claims.

It also alleges that some of the patients suffered sexual abuse.

Merchant acknowledged that some of the institutions mentioned in the case were controlled by the churches or other organizations, and not directly by the government. But he argued that Ottawa was still responsible for the care provided to the patients, and breached its duties to them, including its treaty obligations.