Strasbourg/Bucharest - The Council of Europe's anti-torture committee criticized the treatment of patients in psychiatric institutions in Romania in a report published Thursday in Strasbourg.

In an institution in the city of Oradea, new anti-psychotic drugs were tested on psychiatric patients who did not have the possible risks explained to them.

"This medical research without the actual consent of patients is degrading," the expects said, calling for an end to the practice in Romania.

Gheorghe Oros, the director of the Oradea clinic, disputed the report's findings, saying that nothing in the report was true.

"Everything is clean and legal in Oradea," Oros was quoted by the Mediafax news agency as saying.

Oros stated that there were "clinical studies" made at the facility, but only already approved medications were used.

The Council of Europe report also decried the number of deaths in Romanian psychiatric facilities, adding that many of the dead suffered severe malnutrition.

The accommodation of patients in facilities in the towns of Oradea and Nucet ranged from "very good to very bad," the report said.

Experts with the anti-torture committee registered only isolated complaints about brutality by police or prison guards in the country's police stations and jails. (dpa)