TRIONAL

The drug with the trade name Trional (active ingredient methylsulfonal) was developed in 1888 by the chemist Eugen Baumann and introduced as a sleep aid by the physician Alfred Kast. Along with sulfonal and tetronal, Trional belongs to the sulfonal group, which was largely replaced by barbiturates at the beginning of the 20th century.

The popular series »Mental Health Care: A Textbook and Handbook for Nurses« refers to the risky treatment with trional in 1939: »Sleeping pills, such as paraldehyde and trional, are also used to induce prolonged sleep. Continuous sleep treatment is practiced to shorten manic, even schizophrenic, states of excitement. The nurse has a responsible task in this regard, since, depending on the medication used, prolonged sleep is not without danger. Strict adherence to the doctor’s orders and attentive observation of the patient, especially of the pulse and respiration, is mandatory.«

Trional was used as part of the »child euthanasia« program. It is documented that at least 17 minors were murdered in December 1940 at the Saxon state institution in Großschweidnitz using a »Trional cure« (permanent sleep treatment). Whether the »Trional cure« was also used in the »children’s specialty ward« in Lüneburg is the subject of current research.