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The Children Whose Teeth Were Destroyed

Hundreds of patients at a mental institution in Sweden are given excessive amounts of sweets in an experiment that eventually leads to immense pain.

In The Human Subject, Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Julia Shaw investigate the threads connecting modern day medicine to its often brutal origins. With every episode they explore some of that dark history and ask - is our present day knowledge worth the suffering it took to get us here?

This is the story of the more than 600 patients at Vipeholm Hospital in Sweden who, in 1946, were enrolled in a set of unexpectedly dark studies now known as the ‘sugar experiments’.

They were devised and run by the Board of Medicine - without government knowledge or approval - and led to immeasurable pain for all those who took part, all in the name of public health.

Presenters: Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Julia Shaw
Producer: Simona Rata
Assistant Producer: Mansi Vithlani
Executive Producer: Jo Meek
Sound Design: Craig Edmondson
Commissioner: Dan Clarke

An Audio Always production for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4

Available now

29 minutes

Last on

Sun 28 Jul 2024 23:00

Broadcast

  • Sun 28 Jul 2024 23:00

The Human Subjects Who Participated in History’s Darkest Medical Experiments

The Human Subjects Who Participated in History’s Darkest Medical Experiments

Dr Julia Shaw investigates some profoundly unethical experiments.

Podcast