Pioneer Canton Thurgau – Victims of drug tests are compensated – News

  • The Thurgau cantonal parliament decided to compensate those affected by drug trials in the Münsterlingen Psychiatric Clinic between 1940 and 1980.
  • The cantonal government is ready to take on “a pioneering role in Switzerland” in financial compensation.
  • A maximum of 500 applications are expected, with compensation of CHF 25,000 each. The pharmaceutical industry should also contribute funds, it said in Parliament.

Compensation for the victims of drug trials was already an issue in the canton of Thurgau. However, the government council wanted to wait for a nationwide regulation.

SP and Greens now demanded in a motion that Thurgau should go ahead, with no compensation regulation in sight at the federal level. Some of the people affected had already reached an advanced age. Rapid action is required.

Clear yes for compensation

The Great Council clearly followed this request. The proposal was approved by the Grand Council by 66 votes to 42, with nine abstentions. In the end, a two-thirds majority approved the motion “There is no time – financial compensation for people affected by drug tests in the psychiatric clinic”.

Drug tests in Münsterlingen


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Three million single doses, 3000 affected patients, possibly 36 fatalities. This is the dimension of clinical trials on people between 1946 and 1980 in the Münsterlingen Psychiatry.

A team of historians from the University of Zurich investigated what had happened in the psychiatric clinic in Münsterlingen on Lake Constance up to the end of the 1970s. The results presented show that between 1946 and 1980 the senior physician and later clinic director Roland Kuhn conducted drug trials on patients in an unusual way, which at times ran counter to ethical standards.

According to the research team, at least 3,000 patients were affected. They neither knew that they were part of large-scale experiments, nor were they asked for their consent.

The Thurgau government commissioned the investigation, which cost CHF 1 million. She apologized to those affected in autumn 2019.

The votes against came from the right-wing camp, especially from the SVP for “reasons of the rule of law”, as Hermann Lei voted. The SVP does not want to support regulating everything afterwards via the wallet, which did not go well.

I admire the government council’s courage in taking a step towards the victims.

Several speakers emphasized that Thurgau should set a good example. So does GLP Cantonal Councilor Hanspeter Heeb: “I admire the courage of the government council to take a step towards the victims here.” Thurgau does not want to wait for a national solution to get underway and is therefore proposing this solidarity contribution, said the FDP parliamentarian Cornelia Zecchinel with the brief comment: “Chapeau!”

The Government Council proposes that all surviving operas be given CHF 25,000 as compensation. Heirs should be excluded from this. He assumes that there are a maximum of 500 cases. Accordingly, up to CHF 12.5 million would have to be made available.

I don’t think that the pharmaceutical industry excludes participation per se.

Since the pharmaceutical industry bears a significant share of the responsibility, a participation of the same extent is expected, according to Cantonal Councilor Urs Martin. He tells Radio SRF that the pharmaceutical industry is aware of its responsibility and emphasizes: “I don’t think that this excludes participation per se.”

Contact has been made with the industry and initial talks are planned. One of the difficulties is that the companies that were involved in the drug trials back then no longer exist.

A bill is now being drafted. According to government councilor Urs Martin, the first payments should be possible from the beginning of 2025.

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