Darmstädter complains against clinic: “Syringe destroyed my life”

• fromClaudia Kabel

  –

  shut down

–

The 39-year-old Marco Müller received compulsory medication in psychiatry. In this he sees the reason why he can no longer walk properly.

When Marco Müller walks the few meters from the living room to the balcony with his rollator, it takes a long time – at least for a 39-year-old. He can barely lift his feet, has to lean on a rollator, looks like an old man. “I used to be able to walk normally,” says the man from Darmstadt. “Today I’m tied to this apartment.” He can hardly walk, needs a wheelchair for longer distances, can no longer write because his hands are shaking, has a degree of care of three and is 80 percent disabled.

The problems arose during a stay in the Vitos clinics in Heppenheim, where Müller was treated for psychosis from December 2016 to March 2017. He and his partner Tatjana von Janso are convinced that the cause of the symptoms is incorrect medication taken there. That is why the two not only sent a petition to the Hessian state parliament in 2019, in which they demand more protection for psychiatric patients, but are now also suing Vitos at the Darmstadt regional court.

At that time he was being treated for anxiety, says Müller. He was admitted to Heppenheim on December 1st, after having previously been to the Heidelberg psychiatry. Because he had already refused to eat for weeks and only consumed very little fluids, he was forcibly medicated with the neuroleptic Ciatyl-Depot on December 28, according to the doctor’s report, which is available to the FR.

“The eight of them grabbed me and tied me to the bed,” recalls Müller. After they gave him the injection, he lay there for five to six hours before being untied. It was a traumatic experience. “The gait disorders began the next day,” says Müller. But the doctors, who reportedly informed von Janso immediately, said that he was only weak because of the insufficient food intake. Although the appetite returned, the gait disorders remained, reports Müller. He was all the more shocked when he was given a second injection of Ciatyl on January 11th. When he refused, the doctors threatened to fix him again.

But the second injection made things worse, according to Müller. After the first he was still able to walk without a rollator, “after the second I had to pull my legs afterwards. This senseless injection destroyed my life. “It was bad that no one believed him. The physiotherapist described him as “lazy”, the treating doctors said the problem was not documented in the literature. The Ciatyl-Depot package insert cites such disorders as frequent side effects, such as tremors, stiffness and immobility as very common in Parkinson’s disease.

In the meantime, Müller has been to numerous medical professionals to get help, because four years later he still cannot walk properly again. But with the exception of a doctor in Cham, Bavaria, who confirmed that he had not been able to break down the drug because of an enzyme defect, all the doctors had turned it down.

Now an expert appointed by the court should come, says von Janso. The Vitos clinics did not want to comment on the case at the request of the FR, as this is currently being clarified in court.

–