Allan Memorial Institute Experiments Class Action

+ - Documents (19)

Our firm has been made aware of certain questions subsequent to the class action being authorized by a judgment of the Superior Court of Quebec dated July 31, 2025. We will attempt to answer some of the questions below:

1. Who was the class action authorized against?

The Defendants in the class action are the Government of Canada, the Royal Victoria Hospital, and McGill University.

The class action was dismissed against the United States Government (for the actions of the C.I.A.) on grounds of state immunity and jurisdiction by a decision of the Court of Appeal of Quebec (https://clg.org/pdf/7/5/8/1/Judgment-on-Immunity-Court-of-Appeal.pdf) dated October 2, 2023. On May 30, 2024, the Supreme Court of Canada (https://clg.org/pdf/8/2/9/1/Judgment-Dismissing-Leave-to-Appeal-to-the-Supreme-Court-of-Canada.pdf) declined to grant the Plaintiff permission to appeal. The U.S. government is no longer a defendant in the class action.

2. Who are the Representative Plaintiffs in the class action?

The judge who authorized the class action appointed Julie Tanny and Lana Ponting as the Representative Plaintiffs.

3. What are the next steps in the class action?

Nothing will happen for the next 30 days, as we wait to see if the Defendants attempt to appeal the authorization decision to the Court of Appeal. An appeal is not guaranteed and the Defendants will need permission to appeal, which is a difficult test. If the Defendants are granted permission to appeal, the Plaintiffs will need to prepare for a hearing before three judges of the Court of Appeal, which would likely take place in early 2026.

If there is no appeal, whether because the Defendants do not try to appeal or because they try and are not granted permission, then we return to the Superior Court of Quebec to set out a notice of authorization. After that, we officially file our action and begin document discovery and examinations of witnesses.

4. What is the Notice of Authorization?

After a class action is authorized, a notice to Class Members must be published in various newspapers and/or journals. At that time, Class Members can opt-out of the class action if they don’t want to be a part of it. All Class Members are automatically a part of the class action unless they choose to opt-out. The rule in Quebec is that if you have filed your own individual action, you will have 30 days from the notice to discontinue your case, otherwise you will be deemed to have opted-out.

Consequently, anyone who filed an individual action, will have a choice to make – join the class action or continue their individual action and not be part of the class action. For most people, if you want to participate in the class action, you do not need to take any action – it is automatic.

5. Are both patients and family members a part of the class action?

The judgment granting authorization defined Class Members as:

“All persons who underwent depatterning treatment at the Allan Memorial Institute in Montreal, Quebec, between 1948 and 1964 using Donald Ewen Cameron’s methods (the “Montreal Experiments”) and their successors, assigns, immediate family members, and dependants;

This means: (a) patients that were subjected to Dr. Cameron’s “depatterning” between the years 1948-1964 are Class Members; (b) if the patient is no longer living, their estate is a Class Member; (c) immediate family members of patients are also Class Members, which includes parents, siblings, spouses, and children;

The class definition does not distinguish between types of injuries a person must suffer, nor how extensive they must be – though any compensation will surely vary depending on severity of damages, if the class action is successful on the merits.

It does not matter if the patient applied for, was rejected from, or succeeded in receiving compensation (whether $100,000 or less) under the 1992 federal program in Canada called the “The Allan Memorial Institute Depatterned Persons Assistance Plan”. You are a Class Member as long as you fit the class definition cited above. This government program and the class action are completely separate and independent from each other.

There is no relationship between the class action and this government program – except that if the patient received compensation under the 1992 plan, the patient would had to sign waiver of all of his/her rights against the government of Canada and the Royal Victoria Hospital (but not against McGill University). In consequence, a patient who received compensation under the government program, can only pursue McGill University and no one else. For immediate family members of patients (parents, siblings, spouses, and children), no matter what, they are pursuing all of the Defendants.

6. How do I get medical records from the Allan Memorial Institute?

The Allan Memorial Institute is part of the Royal Victoria Hospital, which is in turn part of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). Access to patient records requires a request made through the MUHC. To make a request, please address yourself directly to the MUHC webpage (https://muhc.ca/medical-records). You will no doubt need documentation such as: birth certificate, death certificate (https://www.etatcivil.gouv.qc.ca/en/default.html), probate judgment, will and estate searches from the Barreau du Québec (https://www.barreau.qc.ca/en/wills-mandates/search/) and the Chambre des notaires du Québec (https://www.cnq.org/en/the-chambre-and-your-protection/the-chambres-services/search-the-registers/search-for-a-will/), etc. One of the grounds to obtain medical records is that they are needed to participate in the authorized class action [you should attach a copy of the Judgment (https://clg.org/pdf/9/1/0/2/Judgment-Granting-Authorization.pdf)]. You can download a copy of the Authorization To Release Information form by clicking here (https://clg.org/pdf/5/2/0/2/Authorization-To-Release-Information.pdf). You can download a copy of a Sample Draft Medical Record Request Letter clicking here (https://clg.org/pdf/3/2/0/2/Sample-Draft-Medical-Record-Request-Letter.pdf). You must send the Authorization To Release Information form as well as the Medical Record Request Letter (after you have filled them both out) to:

MCGILL UNIVERSITY HEALTH CENTRE
Access to Health Information Office
Medical Records Service
Royal Victoria Hospital
GLEN SITE
1001 Boul. Décarie
C RC.7121
Montréal (Québec) H4A 3J1
Tel: (514) 934-1934 ext. 31605
Fax: (514) 843-2871
Email: [email protected]

Keep in mind that the MUHC may decide that certain portions of the record are confidential and could choose to limit what medical records they give you, as well as they may redact and blackline certain portions of the medical files. If this happens, the MUHC must give you the reasons as to why you are not obtaining the complete medical record and you have the right to challenge their decision before an administrative judge of the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec. This is a judgment from the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec (https://clg.org/pdf/1/0/6/1/Judgment-Granting-Access-to-Medical-Records-CAI-in-English.pdf) appealing and overturning the decision of the MUHC, thereby granting a family member access to a patient’s full and complete records.

In the course of discovery, the Representative Plaintiffs will no doubts request all of the medical records of all of the patients of the Allan Memorial Institute during the class period (1948 to 1964), and especially those patients that were “treated” by Dr. Cameron. It is too early to know whether the Defendants will contest the communication of all or even some of these medical records. It is also premature to predict what a judge will allow the Representative Plaintiffs to discover or not. But it is safe to assume that these medical records are relevant to the case and should be discoverable, but that certain safeguards will need to be put into place to respect patients’ privacy rights, as medical records are confidential and remain so, even after a patient has died.

Consequently, even if the Representative Plaintiffs are successful in obtaining all patient Class Members’ medical records, they will not be made public. However, we could anticipate some sort of process to allow estate executors and family members a way to prove their capacity and then permit them to obtain a copy of their loved one’s medical records.

Exact details will develop over the course of the litigation and will be subject to any Court decision on this matter.

**UPDATE**

The class action was authorized against the Government of Canada, McGill University, and the Royal Victoria Hospital.

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**UPDATE**

The authorization hearing will take place on June 9-10, 2025.

**UPDATE**

The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected our request for permission to appeal. The case is definitively dismissed against the U.S. government, but will continue against the other defendants.

**UPDATE**

On Thursday, May 30, 2024 at 9:45 A.M., the Supreme Court of Canada will render its decision on whether or not it will grant leave to appeal the judgment of the Court of Appeal of Quebec that granted the U.S. government immunity and dismissed the class action against that defendant only.

You can check the decision by clicking here.

**UPDATE**

On December 1, 2023, we filed an Application for Permission to Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. We are seeking to have the Supreme Court agree to hear our case and, if successful, allow us to proceed with the class action against the U.S. government and not allow them to claim immunity.

We will update this website when we hear from the Supreme Court of Canada as to whether or not they will hear our appeal.

**UPDATE**

On October 2, 2023, the Court of Appeal rendered judgment dismissing the appeal. This means that the class action would continue as against the Canadian government, the Royal Victoria Hospital and McGill University, but no longer as against the United States. There is still a possibility of appealing this decision to the Supreme Court.

You can view the judgment here.

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We are still waiting for a judgment from the Court of Appeal further to the hearing that was held on March 30, 2023. At present, there is no timeline for when this judgment will be issued, but when it is, we will most certainly update you.

**UPDATE**

The appeal hearing date has been set for March 30, 2023 at 9h30 AM in the Pierre-Basile-Mignault room (RC-08) of the Court of Appeal in located at 100 Notre-Dame St. East, in Montreal, Quebec, H2Y 4B6. The hearing will be held in front of the Honourable Court of Appeal Justices Julie Dutil, Stephen W. Hamilton, and Sophie Lavallée.

You are able to attend the hearing using the following Microsoft Teams Video Link; however, if you choose to do so, you must keep your camera function off and be on mute, otherwise you will disturb the hearing.

If you are unable to join without having your camera off and sound off, then please join, with your telephone on mute, using one of the following numbers:

1 (438) 802-9865, 459125698# (Montreal)
1 (833) 450-1741, 459125698# (Free)

Please respect the above directives or else you will be disrupting the appeal. In Superior Court, many of you did not follow these instructions and it did disturb the hearing - please do so this time as the time is limited and any disruption will interfere with the limited argument time.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

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On September 26, 2022, the Plaintiff filed an appeal of the judgment with the Court of Appeal. There are many steps that must occur before the appeal is heard and it will therefore take many months before the file is ready and a date is even set. We will keep you updated as the file progresses.

The judgment on the United States' motion to dismiss has been rendered - please see it here.
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**UPDATE**

A court date has been set for the United States' motion to dismiss: April 27-28, 2022 at the Palais de Justice in Montreal, located at 1 Notre Dame East (Quebec, Canada), at 9h15 in room 15.08.

The Court has advised that due to Covid restrictions, that there will be a maximum of 10 people allowed in the audience section of the courtroom.

All of the attorneys will be attending the hearing virtually.

If you wish to attend virtually, please use this link to do so: Hearing Link. please ensure that your camera is off and that you are set at mute so as not to disturb the proceeding.

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UPDATE 1

On January 26, 2021, the Commission d’accès à l’information granted one of our class members’ appeal against the McGill University Health Centre and the administrative judge has ordered that access be given to her late father’s complete medical records. You can download this decision in English here and in French here.

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UPDATE 2

On December 31, 2020, an Amended Application for Authorization was filed. You can download this modified version here.

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CONSUMER LAW GROUP has launched a class action lawsuit against the Royal Victoria Hospital, McGill University Health Centre, the Attorney General of Canada and the United States Attorney general on behalf of individuals who underwent depatterning treatment at the Allan Memorial Institute in Montreal, Quebec, between 1948 and 1964 using Donald Ewan Cameron’s methods (the “Montreal Experiments”) and their successors, assigns, family members, and dependants.

The Montreal Experiments included drug-induced sleep/coma, intensive electroconvulsive therapy (“ECT”), psychic driving, sensory deprivation and the administration of various barbiturates, chemical agents and medications to suppress nerve functionality and activation.

“Psychic driving” refers to the “repatterning” procedure whereby patients were subjected to a continuously repeated audio message on a looped tape, often concurrently with muscular paralytic and sedating drugs to subdue them for purposes of exposure to the looped message(s). This included “negative driving” – the use of negative and destructive messages of statements that patients had expressed about themselves (for example: “you are selfish”) followed by “positive driving” – the use of positive messages (for example: “you are lovable”) repeated between 250,000 to 500,000 times.

None of the patients had given informed consent to the Montreal Experiments or were even aware that these experiments were being conducted, instead being under the impression that they were receiving medically sound therapy.

The Montreal Experiments consisted of extreme mind-control brainwashing experimentation on unwitting patients, making a mockery of the doctor-patient relationship.

Simply put, the Montreal Experiments were a form of psychological torture inflicted upon hundreds of unsuspecting persons and which had traumatizing, damaging, and emotionally-crippling effects that lasted for the remainder of their lives and the lives of their families.

To this day, neither the Canadian government, the CIA, McGill, nor the Royal Victoria Hospital have issued formal apologies for their involvement with the Montreal Experiments.

If you or someone you know has been affected by the Montreal Experiments and you wish to obtain more information on potential compensation or to be kept advised of the status of the Allan Memorial Institute Experiments Class Action litigation or any resulting compensation resulting from the Allan Memorial Institute Experiments Class Action Lawsuit, please provide your contact information to our law firm using the below form.

IF YOU WISH TO JOIN THE CLASS ACTION OR TO SIMPLY GET MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE COMPLETE THE FORM BELOW. Please note that providing your information creates no financial obligation for you. You are not charged any fee or cost for joining this class action. Our law firm is paid a contingency fee from the compensation recovered, only if the class action is successful. All information contained in this transmission is confidential and Consumer Law Group agrees to protect this information against unauthorized use, publication or disclosure.