AN ANGRY son believes controversial LSD treatment in the 1960s at an East Lancashire hospital led to his father's death.

Bernard Farrell said his father Fred was reduced to a wreck after being given the hallucinatory drug at Burnley General Hospital to combat high blood pressure.

"It completely and utterly destroyed his life," said Mr Farrell, 47, of Church Street, Great Harwood, who runs a sweet stall in the market under Nelson Arndale Centre.

"You would not believe the effects of the drug on him. He suffered from almost permanent hallucinations. The walls would change colour and shape and he said he saw what he described as a black ball of hate following him round."

Mr Farrell senior died in Queens Park Hospital, Blackburn, of kidney failure in 1964 aged 48, between 12 and 18 months after he started being prescribed LSD. But his son, who was a teenager at the time, is convinced the drugs led to his father's death. "If he hadn't been on LSD the kidney problem would have been picked up as a medical problem and he would have been treated for it and had a longer life. Instead the drugs masked the kidney problem and the symptoms were put down to psychological effects.

"I felt very bitter at the time but now I'm not bitter, I just feel annoyed."

Burnley General is one of 30 hospitals across the country facing legal action for the alleged administration of LSD. It is claimed the drug was given to patients suffering from psychiatric symptoms during the 1950s, 60s and early 70s.

Mr Farrell said his father, who lived in Clayton-le-Moors and worked as an engineer, suffered from high blood pressure for many years. Doctors put it down to psychological rather than medical reasons and prescribed doses of LSD on a sugar cube each Friday, said Mr Farrell.

"He knew it was LSD but he didn't know it's implications," said Mr Farrell. "Nobody knew. It was an experimental drug.

"He began to exhibit symptoms of kidney failure but even then they put it down to a psychological problem."

Mr Farrell said his family considered taking action at the time but decided against it.

David Chew, chief executive of Burnley Health Care NHS Trust, said: "My view is that if patients' or patients' families have concerns they ought to get in touch with us so we can investigate them. We've got a good record of investigating complaints."

Mr Chew said he could not comment on the use of LSD in the past.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.