November 14, 1998
Florida Charges Scientology in Church Member's Death
By DOUGLAS FRANTZ
RLANDO, Fla. -- Florida prosecutors filed criminal
charges Friday against the Church of Scientology in
connection with the death of a church member while she
was under the care of Scientologists three years ago.
The church's Flag Service Organization, its chief
operating arm in Clearwater, Fla., was charged with
abuse or neglect of a disabled adult and with the
unauthorized practice of medicine in the death of the
church member, Lisa McPherson, 36. The felony charges
were filed in Clearwater, which is the church's
spiritual headquarters, by the State Attorney for Pasco
and Pinellas Counties, Bernie McCabe.
Ms. McPherson, who had spent half her life as a member
of the church, died on Dec. 5, 1995. She had spent the
previous 17 days under 24-hour watch in a church-owned
hotel in Clearwater after suffering an apparent nervous
breakdown following a minor traffic accident. Church
records said she had suffered dementia and had to be
restrained at the hotel.
The Pinellas County medical examiner said Ms. McPherson
had been deprived of water for 5 to 10 days before her
death and ruled that she had died of a blood clot
brought on by dehydration. The Clearwater police and the
Florida Department of Law Enforcement conducted a
two-year investigation, which led to the charges filed
Friday.
Ms. McPherson's death has become a rallying point for
critics of Scientology and was the subject of a long
article in The New York Times last December. They
contend that her death reflects the coercive nature of
the church, which has been a lightning rod for criticism
since it was founded 48 years ago by L. Ron Hubbard, the
late science fiction writer.
Scientology has grown into a worldwide movement that
boasts eight million members, although critics say the
number is much smaller. The church was granted
tax-exempt status in 1993 after a 25-year battle with
the Internal Revenue Service.
Church officials and organizations have faced charges in
foreign countries in recent years, but the charges in
the McPherson case are believed to be the first criminal
accusations against a Scientology entity in the United
States since 11 of its leaders were imprisoned 20 years
ago for breaking into Government offices.
The Clearwater charges are similar to those brought
against nursing homes accused of providing inadequate
treatment to elderly patients who die in their care. The
abuse or neglect charge accuses the church of knowingly
or negligently causing harm to Ms. McPherson.
Church officials and lawyers have maintained that Ms.
McPherson was cared for properly under Scientology's
beliefs and that her death was unrelated to her stay at
the church's Fort Harrison Hotel.
Laura L. Vaughan, a lawyer for the church, said the
charges did not accuse the church or any of its members
with intentionally harming Ms. McPherson. "There was no
charge of manslaughter and no charge that the church
caused her death," Ms. Vaughan said.
Kennan Dandar, a lawyer for the McPherson family in a
civil lawsuit against the church, said the family was
pleased by the criminal charges.
The family's wrongful-death suit against the church is
scheduled to go to trial next summer.
Under Florida law, the maximum penalty is a $5,000 fine
for each charge, but courts may impose additional
penalties, including forfeiture of property. McCabe and
Clearwater police officials declined to comment on the
charges. But an affidavit by A. L. Strope, a special
agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement,
which was released with the charges, provided a chilling
portrait of Ms. McPherson's final days.
Ms. McPherson worked as a sales representative at a
Clearwater firm owned by other Scientologists. After the
accident, in which she appeared to have been uninjured,
she stripped off her clothes on the street and began to
mumble. She was taken to a local hospital and a doctor
there wanted to provide psychiatric treatment. But
several church members went to the hospital and took Ms.
McPherson to the church hotel. The Church of Scientology
prohibits psychiatric treatment for its members.
Over the next 17 days, according to Strope's affidavit,
Ms. McPherson was hyperactive, delusional and
hallucinating. He said she tried to harm herself and
others and was repeatedly restrained and prevented from
leaving her room.
After the first week, she routinely urinated and
defecated on herself and rarely slept, Strope said. She
had conversations with people who were not there,
claimed to be people she was not, sang and danced around
the room as if giving a performance, crawled around on
the floor, stood on the toilet, got in the shower fully
clothed, tried to walk out of the room in a state of
undress and on at least one occasion drank her own
urine.
Strope said Scientology staff members administered
injections of magnesium chloride in an effort to get her
to sleep and gave her numerous doses of vitamins, herbal
sleep remedies and prescription drugs.
One staff member who treated Ms. McPherson, Janice
Johnson, had been a practicing anesthesiologist in
Arizona before she ran into disciplinary trouble and let
her medical license lapse, Strope said.
Several other people who cared for Ms. McPherson also
had some medical training, he said.
On the evening of Dec. 5, 1995, Ms. McPherson's
condition had deteriorated to the point where Dr.
Johnson telephoned a Scientologist working as an
emergency room physician at a hospital 45 minutes away.
The doctor, David I. Minkoff, told investigators that he
suggested Ms. McPherson be taken to the nearest hospital
if she was very ill.
Instead of going to Morton Plant Hospital, which was
just a few blocks away, Ms. McPherson was driven 45
minutes to the hospital where Dr. Minkoff worked. She
was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.
Dr. Minkoff said he was shocked by her horrific
appearance. The medical examiner later estimated that
she had lost as much as 40 pounds and been without water
for up to 10 days, accusations disputed by church
lawyers.
Strope said the delay in seeking emergency care deprived
Ms. McPherson of her only opportunity for survival.
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