[What can we learn from the lobotomy period?].

In 1991 the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs appointed a Commission of Inquiry, precipitated by a heated public debate on lobotomy. A group of four psychiatrists studied the case records of 300 patients lobotomized at Gaustad Hospital. The main review by the medical group focused on the high mortality rate during the 1940s. Also, surgery was done on broader indications than officially recommended, and the information given to the next of kin was often questionable. Since the obligation of the psychiatric profession also involves involuntary treatment, particular caution should be exercised in administering new methods. It is important to ensure control and critique by society. Ethical considerations should be integrated into quality control.