The “Dr. Death” Of The ADF

Brig.Gen. Leonard Brennan given dubious moniker by ADF troops.

When you hear someone referred to as Dr. Death, most people of a certain age will automatically think that person is Dr. Josef Mengele, the SS-Haupsturmfuhrer (Captain) and physician also known as The Angel of Death. He held doctorates in medicine and anthropology and it was his work in research anthropology during World War II that earned him his monikers.

He was perhaps best known for his research on twins, often performing cruel experiments on one while leaving the other as a control subject. Mengele’s actions were horrific, seemingly incomprehensible for a medical doctor, and as a research anthropologist he viewed these lives as though they held no more value than a laboratory rat.

There are those who will take exception with the tag of Dr. Death being hung on anyone but Mengele, but for those in the ADF who call him that, they have very good reason for doing so when it comes to Brig. Gen. Leonard Brennan. Although they aren’t glaringly obvious, there are a few parallels that can be drawn between Mengele and Brennan.

I will lead in by saying that I do NOT believe Gen. Brennan to be a Nazi nor am I implying that he in any way has now or at any time ever been one, or aspired to be one.

Gen. Brennan, to the best of my knowledge, has not performed any sort of experiments on twins and has not had a direct hand in the selection of people to be put to death, as Mengele was. What we do see however is that both men have foregone medical ethics for the cause of scientific research. Pure science does not operate in a world of ethics, it deals with facts, obtained through experimentation and observation. It does not care that the experiments being done to obtain those facts are done on a laboratory animal or a living breathing sentient human being.

In Mengele’s case, he blatantly flouted medical ethics, choosing instead to follow his own moral code in the place of the hippocratic oath, he did have a degree in medicine after all. As for Brennan, his ethical lapses are a little more subtle, as demonstrated in an email exchange I obtained from a former ADF senior officer who asked to remain anonymous. In it, the officer had been asking for Brennan’s assistance in helping to establish a rehabilitation program for ADF veterans who had suffered brain damage as a result of taking mefloquine, tafenoquine, or both.

It was not an unreasonable request, given that the ADF had adminstered the drug to thousands of it personnel during illegal and unethical drug trials. After expressing his exasperation at Brennan’s stonewalling and denials, the senior officer received a reply from Brennan that alluded to the fact that this officer would be having his efforts frustrated by him (Brennan).

The Director of Military MEDICINE (at that time) would be blocking any attempt at getting help for personnel who were injured at his behest. He was the one that was in charge of the drug trials, he oversaw the whole thing for the ADF. He knew what was happening, yet did NOTHING to stop it.

The men and women of the ADF were nothing more than subjects in an experiment to Brennan, laboratory animals to be experimented upon without regard for their lives. They were the unwilling participants in a scheme that involved high-ranking members of the ADF, the pharmaceutical industry, and hundreds of millions of dollars.

It’s difficult to say what has motivated Brigadier General Leonard “Dr. Death” Brennan up to this point, whether it’s the opportunity to perform scientific research thus securing himself in the annals of science, or simply just plain old vanilla greed. What seems pretty apparent to me is that Leonard Brennan fits his grotesque moniker more than he does not.