Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

News

Norway compensates lobotomy victims

BMJ 1996; 313 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.313.7059.708a (Published 21 September 1996) Cite this as: BMJ 1996;313:708

Rapid Response:

Re: Norway compensates lobotomy victims

This is good news for Norwegians and how fortunate they are to have an enlightened government prepared to do something to redress the suffering of lobotomy victims.

I feel that in Australia there has been a lack of investigation into the welfare of these patients even to the extent that the operation itself and its after-effects have not been openly acknowledged. That is, unless you count in the cruel and thoughtless jokes that appear from time to time in television serials and similar making fun of the hapless victims of lobotomy.

Surely there is no reason why Australians who have also undergone this mutilating form of treatment should not also receive compensation. What do we need to do to bring this about?

Competing interests: No competing interests

21 March 2016
Hannah A. Wolfe
Anthropologist
Northam, 6401, Australia