About: Death of Dan Markingson

Dan Markingson (November 25, 1976–May 8, 2004) was a young man from St. Paul, Minnesota who committed suicide in an ethically controversial psychiatric research study at the University of Minnesota while under an involuntary commitment order. For nearly eleven years, University of Minnesota officials defended the conduct of its researchers, despite significant public criticism, numerous news reports, and pressure for an external investigation. In March 2015, however, an investigation by a state watchdog agency found a number of alarming ethical violations in the case, including serious conflicts of interest and financial incentives, poor oversight of the study, pressure on Markingson to join the study while he was in a highly vulnerable state, and a series of misleading public statements b