Original subtitles

Facing the Truth

Halt!

Where are you going?

To Aarhus with a sick young man and his parents.

That's in order. Carry on!

Hello, l'm Richard Malmros.

Johannes lversen ...

This is my son, Karl. He's been taken ill.

We were out fishing. - On the North Sea yesterday.

He suddenly got a violent headache.

lt took 20 hours to reach port.

Now his left arm and leg are weak.

Did he lose consciousness? - No.

His blood pressure is 160 over 1 10. His pulse, 84.

Hello, Karl. How are you feeling? Where does it hurt?

My head.

Whereabouts on your head? - Here.

His neck is stiff. They did a lumbar puncture in Ringkøbing.

There was blood in the spinal fluid.

Karl, bare your teeth. Both sides!

l'm afraid Karl has had a stroke. - ls it dangerous? Can it kill him?

Strokes can be dangerous. - Can't you give him an operation?

Yes ... we can.

But we'll have to find out where he's bleeding from.

l'm sure Karl will make it. He's a strong young man.

We'll have to use a local anaesthetic so we can see how he's feeling.

Would you like to sit down? Would you like a cup of coffee?

Thorotrast? - Yes.

Just 20 ml.

Karl, we need to X-ray your head.

So l'm going to inject a contrast medium ... it won't hurt badly.

Try to keep still.

Are we ready? Riber? - Yes.

Now!

Now!

Now!

This is from the front.

This is from the side before the contrast medium.

Now the contrast medium shows all the blood vessels.

Well, Riber, can you see the site of the haemorrhage?

That's not normal. The little bulge is an aneurysm.

That's where he bled from.

Will surgery be possible?

Yes, if we can get a ligature round its neck and tie it off.

What are his chances? - 50 per cent.

And if we don't do anything? And just leave him?

He'll probably have another stroke sooner or later.

He'd be unlikely to survive it.

Karl, how are you feeling? Are you awake?

Yes.

Shall we see if the local is working? Scalpel ...

Can you feel this, Karl? ... Fine.

We'll begin. Riber, hold this.

Dandy.

Tape!

Rugine.

Drill!

Drill ... - We're going to drill a hole or two.

You won't feel it but it'll be a bit noisy.

Start!

Mummy! Mummy!

This will be a bit noisy, too, Karl. But it won't take long ...

The handle ... come on ...

Support his head, please.

Lion forceps ...

Long narrow cloth.

Long narrow spatula!

Dissector!

Make sure you don't pull the temporal lobe too hard.

The white is the optic nerve.

Anatomical tweezers.

Damned well keep quiet!

Pull out the left hand spatula again.

Give me the dissector again.

We can just see the neck of the aneurysm.

Scissors ...

Now, Karl, keep perfectly still. Can you?

Yes.

Ligature tweezers, left hand.

Ligature tweezers, right hand.

Suck, Riber, suck, suck, suck!

Damn!

l believe the ligature is still in place.

Yes, it is. Right, remove the suction tube.

Curved scissors ...

Right, Karl, how are you feeling?

Can you hear us? Karl?

l don't like your un-Christian cussing.

lt went well.

Karl had an aneurysm, a bulge in the wall of a blood vessel.

We've shut it off.

We hope his paralysis will go away soon.

Jolly good.

Ah, you monkey!

Damn ...

The case before Division 3 of the High Court this day 7.9. 1986 -

- is Mrs Karen lversen, widow, v. Århus County Hospital.

lt is correct that in 1944 Karl lversen was examined -

- using the radioactive chemical, Thorotrast.

lt is overwhelmingly probable that it caused his liver cancer.

However, at the time an examination using Thorotrast -

- was the usual and essential procedure for any patient -

- who had indisputably suffered a cerebral haemorrhage -

- and was in mortal danger. The Medico-legal council -

- has had two questions put to it in this regard.

Were there any warnings in the 1930s and 1940s -

- against the use of Thorotrast? And at the time -

- was there an alternative, harmless chemical -

- they could have used instead?

The Medico-legal Council answers both questions in the negative.

There were no warnings and no alternative.

On this basis we urge the court to dismiss these proceedings -

- as the hospital staff did nothing to incur any liability.

Hi, Mum. - lt's good you've come.

He just won't stop reproaching himself.

He sits with all those old files but he can't read them -

- and l can't help him.

What about his reading machine? - lt's far too slow.

20 ml ... right.

So what does it say there?

The patient received 28 ml of Thorotrast.

28 ml ...

Dad, why is this so important to you? You were acquitted.

Of course we were acquitted.

But were there cases where we could have acted differently?

Every time we saved a patient's life -

- we sowed the seeds of a cancer.

Since 1947 l've been waiting for the tumours to emerge ...

What happened in 1947? - A new contrast medium appeared.

Since then nobody's been given Thorotrast.

Aren't you the reporter from the Ritzau news agency?

Yes.

Knoblau? - Yes. Jon Knoblau.

And you've reported on medical issues before?

Yes, l wrote about the haemophilia scandal.

l am a junior at the National Board of Health.

My card.

Yes?

Do you know any of the Medical-legal Council experts?

Yes.

Frank Riber. A neurosurgeon at the Bispebjerg if he hasn't retired.

Did he use to work in Århus?

l don't know. But it'd be easy to check.

Yes ... and Svend Bjerre?

Yes, he's Professor of Radiology in Århus.

And Peter Bondesen?

Former chair of the Danish Cancer Society.

And he used to be a pathologist at Århus County Hospital.

Did he? - Yes, he did.

Enjoy your lunch.

Dad, all the patients who were given Thorotrast ...

What would have happened if you hadn't used it?

We wouldn't have been able to perform surgery.

And? - They would have died.

Of their haemorrhages, tumours, or whatever was wrong.

That's why l don't understand you. You had no choice.

No. But in every single case l was the one who decided.

With what we know today, in some cases l might have acted differently.

That's why l must review all these old files.

This woman ... we operated on her in 1945.

What was the indication? - Where does it say?

There's always an indication for an operation ... in red.

Cave iodine ... - No, the indication! ln red!

l don't think the pages are in numerical order.

That's the damned thing about it. l can't see a thing.

Dad, if you want my help you'll have to speak nicely to me.

You'd rather have that than Bourgogne?

l know it's a cheap wine. But l don't like being diddled.

You are being diddled. They chuck all kinds of things in.

lt costs 1 7 kroner. Don't waste expensive wines on me!

lt tastes like communion wine. - And l was going to be a priest.

Why didn't you? - Because ...

lt was Aunt Johanne who wanted me to be one.

Anyway, l didn't. - Did you two meet at high school?

At Esbjerg Latin School. Dad'd been to the county junior.

ln Denmark Street. - l remember the first day.

From the corridor l heard a class singing.

''The morning cockerel crows again Beats his dewy wings ...''

lt was so lovely that all at once l knew l was a happy child.

lsn't that odd? That as a child you can be aware that you're happy?

Richard!

Richard!

Richard!

You must be out by two o'clock.

lt'll be hard to make it by then. By 3 o'clock?

Everything must be out by then.

Tage Vendelbo, aged 66. From Skørping.

He had a fossia media glioblastoma.

Was he a restaurateur? - No, a hotelier.

l remember him. He couldn't have radical surgery.

He was given 35 ml of Thorotrast. - That tumour killed him quickly.

Put him on the left.

Grethe Wedell, 28 years old. lkast.

Parasagital meningioma ...

22 ml Thorotrast. Discharged. Check up 3 months later.

ln good health.

Right! Put her on the left hand pile.

Hello?

Jon Knoblau here. The reporter.

We spoke in the High Court canteen.

l looked things up in the medical register and you were quite right.

Frank Riber was at Århus from 1944 to 1951 -

- before being made a consultant at the Bispebjerg.

So the entire Medico-legal Council -

- was either employed under Malmros or at the same hospital.

They must have known him professionally and in private.

The term ''conflict of interest'' springs to mind.

Yes.

l assume that what l'm about to tell you is off the record.

Of course.

Since 1949 a secret record has been kept -

- of any patient given Thorotrast.

The patients have not been informed.

They are ... so to speak ... being followed to the grave.

So far c.300 of the 1 100 given Thorotrast have died of cancer.

So the National Board of Health doesn't want it getting out.

There'd be a scandal of monstrous proportions.

Where should l look? - The record is a problem of access.

But l hear that it's not quite true that no warnings were given.

Check out medical periodicals and textbooks from those days.

Ask Frank Riber if he might have conflicting interests.

Your mother was never firm in her faith, Richard.

May 1916

Mum says grace.

lt's not enough. A body must profess her faith.

And she doesn't. She's too proud. And your father could come to chapel.

And your big brothers. - l go to Sunday school.

Do you say your prayers? - Yes.

Then pray that your mother may find the way back to the fold.

Richard, you are the salt of the earth.

Hope Laundry

The pastor's laundry. That'll be 1 .05.

Use the back steps. - The cellar door was locked.

Just a moment.

Oh, it's you, Richard? You've brought my collars? Splendid.

Pastor Bork? - Yes?

Why does my aunt say l'm the salt of the earth?

What is salt, Richard?

What do we use it for?

Putting on our eggs. - Yes. lt enhances taste.

But there is a greater purpose.

lt keeps our food fresh. - Yes.

We use salt to keep corruption at bay.

Sin and corruption do not exist where there is salt.

So your aunt means that you must be the preserving salt -

- that keeps sin at bay.

We'll have to move the bed.

lt can go over in the corner.

Put the mattresses onto the beds.

And now the cupboard.

Richard, come over here.

Why did you hide?

Because some boys from school came by.

Richard, undeserved poverty is no shame.

With the port blockaded by the war your father can't find work.

But living in a cellar ... - Only till we find something better.

We'll manage.

Richard, would you straighten mine out for me?

Richard, why have you moved?

Why have you moved?

Granddad couldn't manage the stairs.

Did the bailiff take any furniture? - What is it to you?

l care about Richard telling lies. - Don't ask him, then.

7 x 1 7 ... 1 4 x 8.

Are Otto's answers correct?

Richard? Are they correct?

Or are there mistakes? - 7 x 1 7 is 1 19.

And 19 x 6 is 1 1 4.

Correct them, Otto.

You can take a beer with the lads ...

Good evening ... - This is Richard's teacher.

He thinks Richard should transfer to the Latin School.

To make sure he gets into High School.

Richard is so gifted that he ought to do his sixth form.

So Latin School would be best. - He'll also make a good craftsman.

lf we can get him apprenticed. - He is academically minded.

But it costs money. - Yes, but ...

Yes, it does.

We have no money. l'm unemployed because of the blockade.

Have you no relatives who might help?

Your sister? The laundry owner?

l don't think so. - No ... that was all l came for.

To see if it were possible ... Good evening to you.

l've never been so embarrassed in my life.

Saying you can't afford to help your son -

- when you can afford to get drunk! On money from the poor box!

lf you want to join the proletariat don't come here again.

We'll manage without you.

lf we buy the old wooden railway bridge we can sell it for firewood.

lt'd be two months' work.

We could make at least 1000 kroner. - So you want to borrow 400?

No.

l want you to vouch for a loan.

You won't be able to sell it till winter.

And one must not vouch for debts. - Nor deny your needy sister help.

The help you need is to strengthen your faith.

Wealth comes from fear of the Lord.

l'm not talking of wealth, Johanna, but of our daily bread.

And what does Jesus say? ''l am the bread of life''.

''He who comes to me shall not go hungry''.

So start by praying to Jesus.

Richard? Go and get Miss Frölich's dirty washing.

l thought you only laundered for the faithful.

Hello, Richard. - l've come for your washing.

Just a moment ... you haven't been to dancing classes for ages.

Have you quite given it up? - We haven't much money.

No. The war is causing hardship. Only black marketers do well.

But you might at least demonstrate your good posture!

Stand up straight!

Lift your chin!

One foot slightly behind the other while you're waiting.

ln third position. Hands behind your back.

There!

For you, Sir ... and a 2 øre tip.

l hope to see you again come autumn ...

lf your aunt allows. - She isn't too keen.

But mum says dancing is no sin. - No. Goodbye, Richard!

Cheerio!

How much d'you reckon that sub costs? The clockwork one?

Can it submerge? - Yes.

How? - See the fin behind the propeller?

lt dives and then surfaces when it needs rewinding.

lt's the kind that's blockading Esbjerg.

There's Otto!

Snot nose! - Look who's talking!

Otto is a ninny!

Otto is a stinker!

l wouldn't mind a bike. And you're allowed to borrow it?

Not on Sundays. - Not Sundays?

Who's been tearing pages out of my hymnal? Pages 47 and 130!

Do you know how much it cost? Go upstairs!

l'd like to look at a number of medical journals from 1930 to 1947.

l have a list.

Though devils surge forth across the world

We fear them not at all ...

And devils surge forth across the world ...

How much is it? - lt's ...

3 kroner, 28 øre.

You'd like to buy it?

No.

Your laundry. That'll be 35 øre.

Thank you, Richard. l'll bring the money later.

Goodbye.

And when Cain saw that his smoke would not rise -

- whereas Abel's rose straight to heaven -

- he grew angry with the Lord and with his brother, Abel.

His countenance fell ...

What does it mean? His ''countenance fell''?

He could no longer look amicably upon his brother.

He hated his brother.

l have seen boys whose countenances have fallen.

They attended this Sunday school. They looked at me with open hearts.

But then they grew up and became apprenticed.

The lust for sin came upon them. And when l meet them now -

- they avert their eyes or avoid my gaze.

Those fallen eyes ... the best of those boys has left them ...

Hello, Richard. - Hello.

Would you like to become a priest? Like Pastor Bork?

lf so your aunt says she'll pay for your studies.

lf you wish to study for the priesthood l'll vouch for a loan -

- that l shall repay the day you are ordained.

That is to say the day you become a priest.

l'd never thought of it ... - Of course not.

Nor need you answer forthwith.

But if so, you could start at the Latin School next term.

l've brought the doctor's laundry. That'll be 1 .82.

Thank you. l'll fetch the dirty laundry.

l'll do a master stroke.

l'll show you a master stroke! Oh, no! l want another go!

Here ... - Thanks.

l've 1 .82. And a 5 øre tip.

And your weekly wage ... 1 .30 ... 1 .35.

Here ... and don't forget to give it to your mother.

She needs it. And give her your tips, too.

Yes.

Aunt ...

lf instead of a priest l'd rather be a doctor ... would you help me?

Yes.

The missionaries need doctors, too.

Richard!

Richard!

Richard? Are you out with the washing?

No, l'm off now.

Why weren't you at school today? - My cousin's come home.

So we went picking up dog ends. - All day?

No, just this morning. Look how many we found!

Want a smoke? Sit down and have a smoke!

Here you go! They're really strong.

Listen to this one. Cain and Abel went to mow.

Cain wanted to go. What more do you need to know?

Cain and Abel went to mow ...

Cain wanted to go ... What more do you need to know?

ln the river there are these minnows and if you tread on them they tickle.

Tickle, tickle, tickle ...

Tickle, tickle, tickle ...

No, don't!

No, don't!

Have you earned an extra mite?

Have you been like the salt that holds sin at bay?

l don't know. - You don't seem very sure ...

Have you been finding it hard not to besmirch yourself?

How do you keep sin at bay? lf it isn't oneself?

You mean if somebody else is on the path of sin?

Yes. What does one do?

Richard, l think you should leave that to me.

Will you tell me who it is? Somebody from Sunday school?

lt's Elo.

l'll teach you!

We didn't!

You devil!

You sodomite!

Vera Jensen ...

She had a cerebral haemorrhage.

She was given 20 plus 15 ... that's 35 ml of Thorotrast.

But nothing was found.

She was discharged in good health.

But she had another stroke three months later and it killed her.

We couldn't find the site. lt happens sometimes.

A few never have another stroke.

lf we'd known whom they'd be they'd not have had Thorotrast.

But we couldn't tell. - So she goes on the right?

Of course. She died.

lf Aunt Johanne paid for your studies why your lifetime of debt?

Because she tricked me. What about those?

We've done them.

She knew l'd never join the missionaries.

So she left all her money to the Santal Mission -

- and l was left a Bible ... and a text ...

... that said that work was its own reward.

lt was something of a shock to find myself deep in debt.

''Fear of God and thrift are their own reward.''

Meanwhile l'd got stuck in my medical studies -

- because l'd dreamed of being a great scientist.

This was thanks to Aunt Johanne.

She suffered from pernicious anaemia.

ln those days they prescribed raw liver.

But l was sure the stomach was involved.

So l asked for permission to experiment -

- by removing parts of canine stomachs -

- to see if the dogs developed pernicious anaemia.

l'd like to conduct the experiments myself.

But of course l'd need help. - You know canine surgery?

No, but l'd study canine anatomy and practice on dead dogs first.

Lundgaard, ever done canine surgery?

Not on the stomach. But l'd be happy to assist Malmros.

How long would we observe the dogs?

Six months, with blood tests every three days or so.

Malmros sounds Swedish; are you related to the Bishop of Lund?

No ... my grandfather came from Sweden.

What does your father do? - He is dead.

He worked at Esbjerg docks. - Oh, an engineer, eh?

No, he was a docker.

Right, that will do.

Where did you learn your surgery?

As a student l've assisted many times.

But you've never performed any? - No, not so far.

That method of laying out the pancreatic duct onto the skin ...

Where did you acquire it? - lt was my own idea.

ls it wrong? - No, it looks quite right.

At any rate on a dog!

Paresis, atrophy ... - Of course.

And something important? ... positive Laseque.

lt's no good, Richard. You're way behind.

l'm sorry, but l can't go on studying with you.

You're holding me back. The exams are at Christmas.

You can't do them and your dogs.

l could study from where you've got to.

lt's not only that, Richard.

What, then? Ulla, what is it?

l think l've fallen in love.

That's the other reason. l'm not stupid.

l know your feelings for me. But l can't let them decide ...

Who is he? - Does it matter?

You're right.

The blood is still perfectly normal.

Three of the dogs are feeble but it isn't pernicious anaemia.

We can't justify it any more. - Just for another month?

Seeing as we have begun, let us pursue it to the end.

Hello, Richard!

Don't you recognize me? From school?

You're the medical superintendent's daughter.

l spent a couple of years in France.

Now l'm going to read French at university.

My worst subject at school. lsn't that funny?

Do you often eat here? - Now and then. lt's cheap.

The food's not even fit for dogs! How are you doing?

Not very well. l should have done my finals at the end of this term.

But l've been doing canine experiments.

So when will you qualify? - Not till next summer.

So you've plenty of time, then.

You can show me the Deer Park.

Have you never been there? - No, nor the Bakken fairground.

lf you take the beer l'll make some sandwiches.

You must come to our hall. We have tremendous fun.

Do you know the first time we ever talked to each other?

l was doing my first year exams at high school.

Maths, and l was hopeless. l couldn't use log tables, even.

l asked to be allowed to go into the quad.

l spotted this tall second year fellow.

''Malmros, will you tell me how to use a log table?''

And you gave me a course. Remember?

Did you pass? - Yes.

The principal said at passing out that we'd all go up -

- but one of us needed to show more diligence. ''lt's Eli'', they all said!

l thought it was hilarious.

Are those the sandwiches?

l did think l had something more appetizing ...

But the sausage is all right. l borrowed it.

Eyes as blue as a lake in spring

They really are quite Denmark's thing

The sun upon the meadows casts its light

All the way through the summer night

Let's sing ''l'm the oatfield swaying low ...''

No! ''Pick up your staff, Put on your breeches'' ...

Sing them both simultaneously! - No, this one!

There are girls from Regens Hall The place near Langebro

And they make quite certain No peace you'll ever know ...

Richard, look! l'm hanging a couple of blankets across the corridor.

lf we leave both our doors open we'll have our own chambre separée.

lsn't it brilliant? - Yes.

Ulla came by with a letter.

She says she can't come. She says she has to revise.

l'm not fine enough.

What about your girlfriend from Regens Hall?

She's a good friend. Not a girlfriend.

Es ist eine alte Geschichte, und bleibt sie immer neue.

One of my dogs is ill. - Pernicious anaemia?

No, 'fraid not. What are we wearing?

Black tie ... or a tuxedo if you have one.

l have a dark suit.

l'm sure it will do.

Do you want to borrow something?

Good evening ... Do excuse me. There's a ball in hall tonight.

But l'm worried about one of our dogs.

l think it's dying. - Malmros, l ...

l think we should stop this experiment.

lt's not getting anywhere. - No.

Are you disappointed?

Yes ...

Tell me, when do you qualify?

This winter if l can make it. lf not, next summer.

l ask because of an inquiry from Mr. Busch, the consultant, -

- who is going to start a department of neurosurgery in Denmark.

He wants to do some experiments on monkeys.

He asked if l knew a good student who might help him.

Preferably one who could join his staff in a year's time.

l'd intended to do research.

No, Malmros. No, you must be a surgeon.

With your touch anything else would be a waste.

lt's fantastic! You'll get out of your deadly dull dog thingy -

- and become a brain surgeon! lt's heaven sent!

l have to do my finals first. - You have to do them anyway.

lt's fantastic. Don't you see? Congratulations!

So something came of your dog experiments after all!

Thanks. Thank you.

l'll be off, then. - Yes?

Why did you come?

To tell you about the dogs.

Yes, of course. Was that the only reason?

No, maybe not.

ln that case l think you should lie down.

Cut ... suture ...

Well, Malmros, can you tie knots one-handed?

No. - You need to in brain surgery.

Often there isn't enough room. Watch ...

Hold the tot in your right hand. ln with your index finger.

lt catches the loop. Then the other way round.

And there's our reef knot.

Otherwise the anatomy is very akin to that of a human.

The brain is immeasurably vulnerable.

Sever the tiniest blood vessel and part of the brain dies.

lt's true of monkeys and it's true of human beings.