North Sea Divers drugged by authorities

There is a ongoing struggle between Norway's North Sea Diver association and the State of Norway over compensation for work-related injuries sustained by the so-called "pioneer divers" of the mid-60's, when according to the diver's association the rules and information policy about dive and decompression risks were unacceptably poor. Now, a new medical investigation by a researcher of Trondheim's St. Olav's Hospital sheds some more light and credibility into their claims of mistreatment.

Medical director Kari Todnem at St. Olav's Hospital states that she believes North Sea divers were secretly and systematically drugged in pressure chambers during ascent in order to calm them and to spare diving gas. Her research demonstrated nerve and lung damage among the pioneer divers and found the repetition of drugs such as Medrol and Valium in records, and this widespread sedation is a new discovery. This drug use was later confirmed via interviews with surviving divers.

The letters the divers have acquired as evidence were marked top secret for an 80-year period in the future by Norwegian authorities, and reveal knowledge of the dangers involved with the type of repeated diving the men were doing.

For a full report, go to Aftenposten (English version).