At least 2,000 Israelis died in psychiatric hospitals in the nineties, reported Haaretz, according to health ministry data provided to the Israeli Association Against Psychiatric Assault (IAAPA).
The paper said that the association wants to find out how and why they died.
The records also show that, since the state of Israel was founded in 1948, 125,000 people have been hospitalized in psychiatric institutions.
Last week, said the paper, the association sued the ministry for its refusal to provide the association with information on the cause of death, age, sex and medication.
The association also sought to learn which psychiatrists had used electric-shock therapy on their patients, according to the paper.
About two months ago, the ministry told IAAPA chairman, Hagai Aviel, that it could not divulge such information, as this would violate patient privacy, so the ministry only forwarded mortality data for the 1990s, according to Haaretz -- Albawaba.com
