Overview

• Researchers estimate that roughly 10% to 25% of children and adolescents in the examined facilities were subjected to non-consensual medication use and trials, which the report describes as a pervasive phenomenon.
• Commissioned by the NRW health ministry and led by medical historian Heiner Fangerau, the study synthesizes archival records, prior literature and survivor interviews to provide the first comprehensive overview of the practices.
• Documented measures include the use of neuroleptics, insulin and sedatives to subdue children, vaccine trials in locations such as Düsseldorf, and a 1956 test of thalidomide at the Aprath sanatorium before market approval.
• Cases from facilities including Gütersloh, the Wittekindshof near Bad Oeynhausen and Hephata Mönchengladbach include deaths that may be connected to heavy drug regimens, though causal links can no longer be verified.
• The report faults state bodies, the LVR and LWL associations and church operators for inadequate oversight, details suppressed complaints and absent consent, and notes entanglement with other violence such as invasive procedures and sexual abuse.