As part of an ongoing lawsuit against the U.S. government, a federal judge has ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to release more documents relating to Cold War-era experimentation on American soldiers.

Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in Oakland, California, ruled the VA must hand over documents pertaining to the use of at least 7,800 service personnel as “human guinea pigs” by the U.S. Army and the Central Intelligence Agency

Beginning in the 1950s, the military and CIA utilized former Nazi scientists to test the effects of 400 types of drugs and chemicals, including mescaline, LSD, amphetamines, mustard gas, and nerve agents, on U.S. soldiers, according to a lawsuit brought by

the Vietnam Veterans of America and individual soldiers.

The experiments, some of which took place at Edgewood Arsenal and Fort Detrick, Maryland, left many veterans with long-term health problems that the VA has refused to cover.

The plaintiffs have won previous motions demanding the VA release records relating to the secret experiments. This time, they sought documents revealing the government’s process for identifying and notifying soldiers who were potentially exposed during the chemical and biological tests.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Veterans’ Lawsuit against CIA and Army Drug Experimentation Moves Closer to Trial (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)