NPR "Morning Edition" segment on Lisa McPherson


[Transcript of 17.11.1998]


From: Xenubat@primenet.com (Bat Child (Sue M.))
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
Subject: Transcript of NPR "Morning Edition" segment on Lisa McPherson, 11/17/98
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1998 03:40:20 GMT

NPR--Morning Edition, 11/17/98

ANNOUNCER:  An arraignment hearing is scheduled later this month in
the felony case against the Church of Scientology for its alleged role
in the 1995 death of one of its members.  A Florida state attorney has
charged Scientology with unauthorized practice of medicine and accused
it of abuse or neglect of a disabled adult in the death of Lisa
McPherson.  The church contends the death was accidental and had
nothing to do with Scientologists.  NPR’s John Burnett reports:

JOHN BURNETT:  Florida’s criminal charges against Scientology provide
the most authoritative account yet of Lisa McPherson’s death, a case
critics say provides a chilling glimpse inside this controversial
church.  Special Agent A.L. Strope of the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement has written an 18-page narrative drawing on medical and
police records and interviews with Scientologists.  It begins on
11/18/95, when Lisa McPherson had a traffic accident, then took her
clothes off and walked naked down a Clearwater, Florida street.  After
she was taken to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation, a group of
church officials arrived and convinced doctors to let the
Scientologists care for her.  For the next 17 days, McPherson, in what
the affidavit calls a "severely psychotic state", was kept inside the
church-owned Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater.  The document says she
was held against her will.  McPherson’s family has filed a wrongful
death suit against the church and four of its members.  Dell Liebreich
is McPherson’s aunt:

DELL LIEBREICH:  They confined her, didn’t notify anybody; there were
no medical attention.  They saw her deteriorating and dying and they
didn’t--they just sat there and watched her die.  They didn’t even
talk to her.  She--they weren’t even allowed to speak to the poor
girl.  And any idiot would know that somebody needs attention, you
know, that’s going down that fast.

BURNETT:  Based on statements from McPherson’s caretakers, court
papers say the 36-year-old from Dallas hallucinated, crawled, danced,
soiled herself, drank her own urine, and claimed she was L. Ron
Hubbard, the church’s founder.  Eventually, she fell into a coma.
None of the Scientologists assigned to care for McPherson was a doctor
licensed to practice in Florida.  Their treatment was to isolate her,
watch her 24 hours, and administer prescription sedatives, aspirin,
antihistamine, vitamins, and herbal supplements.  The affidavit says
some of the medicines were forced.  Scientology bitterly rejects
conventional psychiatry and prides itself on its ability to handle any
problem following Hubbard’s meticulous dictates.  McPherson’s
treatment was called an "Introspection Rundown" which Hubbard invented
to handle psychotic individuals.  On December 5, Scientologists drove
a comatose McPherson to a hospital 20 miles away, even though there
was another hospital within blocks of the hotel.  The Emergency Room
doctor at the farther hospital was a church member.  Agent Strope
concluded, "This inexcusable delay deprived Lisa of her only
opportunity of survival."  The Scientologist doctor who pronounced
McPherson dead described her sunken appearance as "horrific".  The
autopsy report lists the cause of death as a blood clot due to "bed
rest and severe dehydration".  Brian Anderson, Scientology’s Florida
spokesman, says their forensic experts contend McPherson’s blood clot
was caused by the November 18 traffic accident and the church is
blameless:

BRIAN ANDERSON:  The State has not charged any individual or the
church with Lisa’s death, and there are no allegations that anyone
intentionally harmed Lisa McPherson.  This has been a difficult
investigation, and the State has been operating under immense
political pressure and they ultimately decided to bring what happens
to be a corporate negligence charge, and in response to this situation
the church has acted as any responsible citizen would act and has
taken actions needed to make sure a similar situation would never
happen again.

BURNETT:  If the Church of Scientology is found guilty of unauthorized
practice of medicine and neglect of a disabled adult, it can be fined
$5,000 on each charge and the judge can order forfeiture of property.
No jail time for church officials is possible.  John Burnett, NPR
News.



Sue, SP4(:), listed on the Scieno Sitter list 5 times!
--
http://www.primenet.com/~xenubat

"It will take a *long* time to find another enemy
with the combination of evil and incompetence
you see in Scientology."--Keith Henson



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