[Case study: debut of legal sterilization of mentally ill patients in the Vaud canton].

The topic of genetic transmission of mental diseases appears early in the psychiatric literature. Among the consequences of these theories in the Swiss canton Vaud a law was enacted in 1928 concerning the sterilization of persons affected by "mental disease or mental disability". This short communication presents a selection of case histories which sheds light on the first years after the enactment of this law.