Universität zu Köln

Martin, Michael, Fangerau, Heiner and Karenberg, Axel (2020). Georg Schaltenbrand (1897-1979) and his research without moral boundaries on multiple sclerosis. Nervenarzt, 91 (SUPPL 1). S. 43 - 53. NEW YORK: SPRINGER. ISSN 1433-0407

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Abstract

In 1953 the prominent German neurologist Georg(es) Schaltenbrand became president of the German Neurological Society (DGN) and in 1967 honorary president. Less well known is the fact that from 1933 to 1936 he was member of the Stahlhelm and the Storm Troopers (SA). In 1937 he joined the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) and other Nazi organizations. For the last three decades Schaltenbrand's name has primarily been associated with human experiments performed in 1940. His objective was to prove the viral etiology of multiple sclerosis (MS). To that end he injected cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drawn from allegedly infected monkeys and MS patients into severely handicapped patients from the psychiatric asylum Werneck near Schweinfurt as well as into severely ill patients from the University Hospital of Wurzburg without their consent. Weeks later he withdrew CSF samples from the recipients, sometimes repeatedly to control parameters of inflammation. Although not all details of his test series can be clarified, there is no doubt that he violated prevailing laws and ethical standards. According to the present state of knowledge, he was the only German professor of neurology during the Nazi era who performed such experiments on humans in terms of research without moral boundaries. He later justified his actions by arguing that he had intended to exert a positive effect on the mentally ill. Judicial investigations ended in 1948 without an indictment. Long after his death, in 1994 the Schaltenbrand experiments became known to a wider public and three years later the Medical Faculty of Wurzburg condemned the unethical research and distanced itself from its former member. Today, Schaltenbrand's study is assessed as an unacceptable form of research on particularly vulnerable patients for the benefit of third parties. As a result, ethical norms formulated in the 1930s were reinforced by international guidelines, e.g. the Declaration of Helsinki drafted by the World Medical Association.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Martin, Michael UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Fangerau, Heiner UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Karenberg, Axel UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-347010
DOI:	10.1007/s00115-019-00843-6
Journal or Publication Title:	Nervenarzt
Volume:	91
Number:	SUPPL 1
Page Range:	S. 43 - 53
Date:	2020
Publisher:	SPRINGER
Place of Publication:	NEW YORK
ISSN:	1433-0407
Language:	German
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language NEUROLOGY; SCREEN Multiple languages Clinical Neurology; Psychiatry Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/34701