Editing MKUltra (section)

== Death of Frank Olson ==
{{anchor|Deaths}}
{{main|Frank Olson}}
[[File:Frank Olsen (1910-1953).jpg|right|200px|Frank Olson]]
Several known deaths have been associated with Project MKUltra, most notably that of [[Frank Olson]]. Already in 1951 Frank Olson was a [[United States Army]] biochemist and [[biological weapon]]s researcher.<ref name="olson"/> In 1951 academic sources attributed the [[1951 Pont-Saint-Esprit mass poisoning]]
incident to [[ergot poisoning]] through a local bakery (which appeared to be plausible because ergot naturally contains [[lysergic acid]], the chemical precursor to [[LSD]]).<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1136/bmj.2.4732.650 |last1=Gabbai |last2=Lisbonne |last3=Pourquier<!--First names/initials not given--> |date=15 September 1951|title=Ergot Poisoning at Pont St. Esprit|journal=[[British Medical Journal]]|volume=2|issue=4732|pages=650–51|pmc=2069953|pmid=14869677}}</ref><ref name="Finger2001">{{cite book|first=Stanley|last=Finger|title=Origins of Neuroscience: A History of Explorations Into Brain Function|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_GMeW9E1IB4C&pg=PA221|access-date=24 February 2013|year=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-514694-3|pages=221ff}}</ref><ref name="PommervilleAlcamo2012">{{cite book|first1=Jeffrey C. |last1=Pommerville|first2=I. Edward |last2=Alcamo|title=Alcamo's Fundamentals of Microbiology: Body Systems Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uf_Hl3Exti8C&pg=PA734|access-date=24 February 2013|year=2012|publisher=Jones & Bartlett Publishers|isbn=978-1-4496-0594-0|pages=734ff}}</ref>

In 1953, a few days before his death, Frank Olson quit his position as acting chief of the Special Operations Division at Detrick, Maryland (later Fort Detrick) because of a severe moral crisis concerning the nature of his biological weapons research.<br>
Among Olson's concerns were:
* the development of assassination materials used by the CIA,
* the CIA's use of biological warfare materials in covert operations,
* experimentation with biological weapons in populated areas,
* collaboration with former [[Nazi human experimentation|Nazi scientists]] under [[Operation Paperclip]],
* LSD mind control research, and
* the use of psychoactive drugs during "terminal" interrogations under a program code-named [[Project Artichoke]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.frankolsonproject.org/Statements/FamilyStatement2002.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030211052410/http://www.frankolsonproject.org/Statements/FamilyStatement2002.html | archive-date = 2003-02-11 | last = Olson | first = E. | title = Family Statement on the Murder of Frank Olson | access-date = 2008-10-16 | date = 2002-08-22 }}</ref>

In 1953 (November) Olson was given LSD without his knowledge or consent, (allegedly) as part of a CIA experiment, and died after falling from a 13th-story window a week later. A CIA doctor assigned to monitor Olson claimed to have been asleep in another bed in a New York City hotel room when Olson fell to his death. In 1953, Olson's death was described as a suicide that had occurred during a severe psychotic episode. The CIA's own internal investigation concluded that the head of MKUltra, CIA chemist [[Sidney Gottlieb]], had conducted the LSD experiment ''with'' Olson's prior knowledge, although neither Olson nor the other men taking part in the experiment were informed as to the exact nature of the drug until some 20 minutes after its ingestion. The report further suggested that Gottlieb was nonetheless due a reprimand, as he had failed to take into account Olson's already-diagnosed suicidal tendencies, which might have been [[Exacerbation|exacerbated]] by the LSD.<ref name="olson"/>

In 1975, Olson's family received a $750,000 settlement from the U.S. government and formal apologies from President [[Gerald Ford]] and CIA Director [[William Colby]], though their apologies were limited to informed consent issues concerning Olson's ingestion of LSD.<ref name=albarelli/>

In 1977, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and Committee on Human Resources wrote:
:"Given the CIA's purposeful destruction of most records, its failure to follow informed consent protocols with thousands of participants, the uncontrolled nature of the experiments, and the lack of follow-up data, the full impact of MKUltra experiments, including deaths, may never be known."<ref name="Supremecourt"/><ref name="arts.rpi.edu">{{cite web | url = http://www.arts.rpi.edu/~pellr/lansberry/mkultra.pdf | publisher = Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and Committee on Human Resources | date = August 3, 1977 | title = Senate MKUltra Hearing: Appendix C – Documents Referring to Subprojects |page=167 |access-date = 2007-08-22 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071128230208/http://www.arts.rpi.edu/~pellr/lansberry/mkultra.pdf <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2007-11-28}}</ref><ref name="many other unofficial sites"/><ref name=albarelli>{{cite book |first=H. P. |last=Albarelli |title=A Terrible Mistake: The Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA's Secret Cold War Experiments |publisher=Trine Day |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-9777953-7-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/terriblemistake00hpal/page/350 350–358, 490, 581–583, 686–692] |url=https://archive.org/details/terriblemistake00hpal/page/350 }}</ref>

In 1994, Olson's body was exhumed and cranial injuries indicated that Olson had been knocked unconscious before he exited the window.<br>
This means the forensic evidence conflicted with the former official version of events by the CIA.<ref name="olson">Marks 1979, chapter 5.</ref><br>
The medical examiner termed Olson's death a "homicide".<ref>{{cite book | last = Ronson | first = Jon | title = The Men Who Stare at Goats | publisher = [[Picador (imprint)|Picador]] | year = 2004 | location = New York | isbn = 0-330-37548-2 | url = https://archive.org/details/menwhostareatgoa00rons_1 }}</ref>

Since 2001 (or earlier), the Olson family disputes the official version of events. They maintain that Frank Olson was murdered because, especially in the aftermath of his LSD experience, he had become a security risk who might divulge state secrets associated with highly classified CIA programs, about many of which he had direct personal knowledge.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.frankolsonproject.org/Articles/LondonMail.html |title=The Olson File |publisher=Frankolsonproject.org |access-date=2012-12-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010804055955/http://www.frankolsonproject.org/Articles/LondonMail.html |archive-date=2001-08-04 }}</ref>

A 2010 book alleged:
* that the [[1951 Pont-Saint-Esprit mass poisoning]] was part of MKDELTA,
* that Olson was involved in that event, and
* that he was eventually murdered by the CIA.<ref name="BBC2010">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-10996838 |title=Pont-Saint-Esprit poisoning: Did the CIA spread LSD? |last1=Thomson |first1=Mike |date=23 August 2010 |website=BBC News}}</ref><ref name="ABC2010">{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Health/International/book-claims-cia-lsd-experiment-made-french-town/story?id=10171002 |title=Did CIA Experiment LSD on French Town? |last1=Schpolianksy |first1=Christophe |date=23 March 2010 |website=ABC News}}</ref>

In 2012 (November 28) the Olson family filed suit against the U.S. federal government for the wrongful death of Frank Olson.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna50003125|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606104652/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna50003125|archive-date=2023-06-06 |date=November 29, 2012 |agency=Associated Press |work=NBC News |first=Frederic J. |last=Frommer |title=Family sues CIA, decades after scientist's mysterious death}}</ref> In 2013 (July) the case was dismissed, due in part to the 1976 settlement between the family and government.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gaines |first=Danielle |title=Lawsuit by family of drugged Detrick employee dismissed |url=http://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/crime_and_justice/article_8705f623-edfd-59b0-9e04-548b15a2c423.html?TNNoMobile |access-date=October 20, 2013 |newspaper=[[Frederick News-Post]] |date=July 18, 2013}}</ref><br>
In the decision dismissing the suit, [[U.S. District Judge]] [[James Boasberg]] wrote,
:"While the court must limit its analysis to the four corners of the complaint, the skeptical reader may wish to know that the public record supports many of the allegations [in the family's suit], farfetched as they may sound."<ref>{{cite news |last=Schoenberg |first=Tom |title=CIA Cover-Up Suit Over Scientist's Fatal Fall Dismissed |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-17/cia-cover-up-suit-over-scientist-s-fatal-fall-dismissed.html |access-date=February 22, 2014 |newspaper=Bloomberg |date=July 17, 2013}}</ref>