page_title: Leonard Jan Le Vann
section_title: Research
hierarchical_section_title: Leonard Jan Le Vann / Research
caption_attribution_description: English: A picture of the cover of the Canadian Medical Association Journal's 86th issue, with a list of articles, including Dr. Le Vann's work on Chlordiazepoxide
context_page_description: Dr. Leonard Jan Le Vann was the medical superintendent at the Alberta Provincial Training School for Mental Defectives from the years 1949–1974. Although he was born and raised in the United States, Le Vann trained as a physician in Scotland. Throughout his career Le Vann wrote many articles, the majority of which were published during his 25-year career at the Provincial Training School. These articles covered a broad range of topics that include alcoholism, schizophrenia and experimental treatments of antipsychotic drugs. In 1974 Le Vann resigned from the training center, which was due to the Government of Alberta's repeal of the Sexual Sterilization Act. Furthermore, there has been plenty of controversy about how he ran the school. This controversy has been brought to attention mainly because of the Leilani Muir trial that took place in 1995. Although Le Vann was already deceased at the time of the trial, his name was brought to the court's attention on many separate occasions.
context_section_description: During the years that Le Vann Worked at the school, he published a number of documents ranging over many topics. The majority of his work, however, was focused on the antipsychotic drugs.
  In 1953 Le Vann published an article that discussed odor and its negative implications within mental institutions and mental hospitals. In the article he discusses how using a water-soluble chlorophyll derivative has proved to be effective in reducing the odor in the wards. He hoped that by reducing the odor at these facilities there would be an improved rate of recruitment and retention of medical professionals.
  Le Vann published another article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in 1953 entitled "A Clinical Survey of Alcoholics". In this CMAJ paper he discussed the social implications of alcoholism, and shared his view stating that the government should have more strict regulations on alcoholic beverages including a safe dosage epilogue.  Le Vann also describes the two types of alcoholics, primary and reactive. According to his study, the primary alcoholic is more likely to respond to group therapy. In contrast, the reactive alcoholic responds best to individual sessions. Furthermore, the reactive alcoholic is more likely to commit suicide when administered therapeutic drugs such as Disulfiram. Finally, Le Vann illustrates that cultures with strong father figures are less likely to resort to alcohol and to lead a life of alcoholism.
  Le Vann also researched the effectiveness of drugs such as chlordiazepoxide, chlorpromazine, haperidol, trifluperidol, and trifluoperazine dihyrochloride. In his 1959 article Trifluoperazine Dihyrochloride: an effective tranquillizing agent for behavioural abnormalities in defective children, Le Vann treated 33 patients. These consisted of "14 idiots, 14 imbeciles and two morons". All of these patients had responded negatively to the previously administered antipsychotic drugs. The experiment was administered over an eight-week period where he recorded the behaviours of the subjects that had been given the Trifluoperazine Dihyrochloride. The results showed that almost all the patients had reduced abnormal behavior and in some cases, the subject was completely controlled.
caption: Title page of the Canadian Medical Association Journal including Le Vann's article, Chlordiazepoxide, a tranquillizer with anticonvulsant properties Canadian Medical Association Journal, 86, 123-125.
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