| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Fredric L. Rice" |
| Date: |
10 Jul 2005 09:25:37 AM |
| Object: |
Blackmail, extortion in Scientology murder |
The medical examinor in the McPherson murder was "visited" by
Scientology killers which prompted the Examinor to issue a public
statement stating that she had been "visited" by them. Shortly
thereafter she changed her murder finding to "accidental" and
then disappeared, prompting the State of Florida to instigate a
search for her, suspecting she herself had been murdered.
Eventually the Examinor turned up after months of hiding, just
six months short of the 10 year anniversary of the murder.
-=-
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/07/09/Tampabay/Scientology_case_take.shtml
Scientology case takes its toll
Dr. Joan Wood gives up her medical license after a report strongly
criticizes her handling of a disputed 1995 death.
By SUSAN TAYLOR MARTIN, Times Senior Correspondent
Published July 9, 2005
Former Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner Joan Wood has relinquished her
Florida medical license in the wake of a state health department claim that
she "became an advocate for the Church of Scientology" in a bitter dispute
over the 1995 death of Scientology member Lisa McPherson.
Wood changed the probable cause of death from "severe dehydration" to
"accident" based on "factors other than objective anatomic findings,"
according to an administrative complaint. She also let "personal bias or
prejudice" affect her decision to amend the original ruling.
In her handling of the McPherson case, the department's complaint said,
Wood "failed to practice medicine with that level of care, skill and
treatment which is recognized . . . as being acceptable under similar
conditions and circumstances."
Wood, 60, termed the state's claims "baloney."
"I have never been nor will ever be an advocate for the Church of
Scientology," she said in an interview Friday. "I am very proud of my
25-year record, and I've been ethical and moral and honest in all of my
dealings. I resent any implication to the opposite."
In voluntarily surrendering her license, Wood agreed to never again
practice medicine in Florida. The move also forestalled further state
administrative action.
Wood, who retired under fire in 2000, said she has been unable to practice
since then because of medical problems. She decided to relinquish her
license, she said, instead of paying the "very expensive" costs of keeping
it active, such as attending conferences and continuing education courses.
Ben Shaw, a Church of Scientology spokesman, said he found it
"unbelievable" that the health department considered Wood an advocate for
the church in the McPherson controversy.
"Anybody who knows anything about the facts of that case knows that would
be ridiculous," he said. "If you look at some of the e-mails she wrote
prior to changing the death certificate, it was clear that was the last
thing she wanted to do. . . . She was desperate, she was trying to find any
way she could to support her original position when there was not any
scientific basis for it."
The case, which spawned criminal charges and a wrongful death suit, stems
from a minor traffic accident McPherson had in 1995 near the church's
spiritual headquarters in Clearwater. The 36-year-old McPherson got out of
her vehicle, took off her clothes, and told a paramedic, "I need help. I
need to talk to someone."
Paramedics took her to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation, but McPherson
signed out against a doctor's advice when church members showed up and said
they would care for her. Scientologists oppose psychiatric treatment.
Daily reports by low-level Scientologists, obtained in subsequent court
proceedings, said McPherson fought with her caregivers and refused to eat.
She eventually grew too weak to stand.
By Dec. 5, 1995, McPherson's weight had dropped dramatically and, one
staffer wrote, she "looked very sick and was breathing heavily." They drove
her 45 minutes to a hospital in the next county so she could be seen by a
doctor who is a Scientologist. He pronounced her dead at the hospital.
Wood originally listed the cause of death as "bed rest and severe
dehydration." Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe charged the
church with two felonies: practicing medicine without a license, and abuse
of an adult.
In 2000, four years after McPherson died, Wood amended the death
certificate to show the probable manner of death was an accident, based on
a "review of all case materials and consultation with other experts."
McCabe's office dropped the criminal charges against the church, blaming
Wood for scuttling its case.
In 2003, an investigator for the Florida Department of Health interviewed
Wood, who said "it served no purpose to charge the Church of Scientology."
The interview is summarized in the department's administrative complaint
against Wood, dated last September. It became public when the state Board
of Medicine, which regulates physicians, recently issued its final order
accepting Wood's surrender of her license.
According to the complaint, Wood "stated that the members of the Church of
Scientology were untrained and there was no intent to cause the death of
Patient L.M.," referring to McPherson. "Therefore, (Wood) said she changed
the manner of death to "accident.' "
Wood said Friday she didn't have all the facts when she made the original
ruling on McPherson's death.
"The first information (the church) gave us regarding her bore no
resemblance to what we knew, based on physical findings, that must have
occurred. They made this sound like an overnight illness. We knew that
wasn't true, but it was a long, long time before we got all the facts
together."
The church countered that Wood's office had botched the autopsy, ignoring
evidence McPherson was not dehydrated or unusually thin when she died.
Wood and Shaw, the church spokesman, both denied Friday that the church
pressured Wood to change her original ruling. However, Wood acknowledged
she felt under stress throughout the years of controversy over the
McPherson case.
"I think in their own way the church has a long history of attempting to
pressure individuals, and they can leave you at your wit's end in terms of
providing them mounds and mounds of paperwork," Wood said. "But no, no, no
- the bottom line is that I made my decision based on all the facts I had
available to me, not just the anatomic findings."
One of the lawyers who represented McPherson's estate in the wrongful death
suit against the church said Wood was under "a great deal of pressure" over
the case.
"I think a number of people were both surprised and shocked when she did
change her initial finding," attorney Luke Lirot said Friday. "There was a
significant amount of agreement that her original determination was
accurate, and I think that original determination reflected adversely on
the Church of Scientology. I think they brought a significant amount of
pressure to bear on her, and I don't think anybody can conclude that didn't
have some impact on the modification of the report."
The wrongful death suit was settled last year; the terms were kept
confidential.
McCabe, the state attorney, said Friday he thinks Wood reversed herself on
McPherson's death because the church "kept flooding her with information
that raised questions in her own mind." However, he said, he never
considered Wood an advocate for Scientology.
"She could certainly be strong-willed and advocate her position strongly
but I never felt there was any improper bias or prejudice. We certainly had
disagreements over time but I never had any questions about her
competence."
Toward the end of her tenure as medical examiner, Wood also came under fire
for a case in which her office said a 7-month-old girl had died because of
a violent shaking. The father was charged with first-degree murder, but the
charge was dropped when a new medical examiner ruled the baby's death was
an accident.
Since retiring, Wood has been living off Social Security and private
disability insurance, she said. She doesn't miss the practice of medicine.
"The stress after 25 years of working in that office was something I did
not care to deal with any more. And when my physician was telling me I
could never practice again, why would I pay out that kind of money (for a
license)? It's not like I'm living in the lap of luxury."
Times researchers Carolyn Edds and Caryn Baird contributed to this report.
Susan Taylor Martin can be contacted at
[Last modified July 9, 2005, 01:25:26]
---
http://www.ElmerFudd.US/ http://www.notserver.com/
Scientology crooks: http://sf.irk.ru/www/ot3/otiii-gif.html
http://PerkinsTragedy.org http://www.rightard.org/
End Republican race hatred: http://www.thedarkwind.org/
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: Blackmail, extortion in Scientology murder |
11 Jul 2005 02:56:00 AM |
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Fredric L. Rice wrote:
The medical examinor in the McPherson murder was "visited" by
Scientology killers which prompted the Examinor to issue a public
statement stating that she had been "visited" by them. Shortly
thereafter she changed her murder finding to "accidental" and
then disappeared, prompting the State of Florida to instigate a
search for her, suspecting she herself had been murdered.
Eventually the Examinor turned up after months of hiding, just
six months short of the 10 year anniversary of the murder.
-=-
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/07/09/Tampabay/Scientology_case_take.shtml
Scientology case takes its toll
Dr. Joan Wood gives up her medical license after a report strongly
criticizes her handling of a disputed 1995 death.
This is not the only questionable work she has ever done as a
medical examiner. There are numerous cases overturned because
of faulty conclusions by her office. She was one quoted as
saying her office was "an extension of the prosecutor's office"
rather than an independent agency.
She was also replaced by Dr. Throgmartin, the man who performed
the autopsy on Terry Schiavo.
Bob Dog
Atheist #153 = 1^3 + 5^3 + 3^3
EAC's chief cook and brainwasher
-----
"You won't find any opposition to the idea of evolution among
sophisticated, educated theologians. It comes from an
exceedingly retarded, primitive version of religion, which
unfortunately is at present undergoing an epidemic in the
United States."
- Richard Dawkins
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| User: "Desertphile" |
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| Title: Re: Blackmail, extortion in Scientology murder |
10 Jul 2005 09:34:31 PM |
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On Sun, 10 Jul 2005 14:25:37 GMT, (Fredric L.
Rice) wrote:
The medical examinor in the McPherson murder was "visited" by
Scientology killers which prompted the Examinor to issue a public
statement stating that she had been "visited" by them. Shortly
thereafter she changed her murder finding to "accidental" and
then disappeared, prompting the State of Florida to instigate a
search for her, suspecting she herself had been murdered.
Eventually the Examinor turned up after months of hiding, just
six months short of the 10 year anniversary of the murder.
Ms. Wood was not in hiding as such: she was in a mental health care
facility. A human rights activist (ex-scientology staff member) claimed
that he noticed that her new "boyfriend" was GO/OSA and told her so,
and the news apparently sent Ms. Wood into a psychic funk (she "went
insane").
Imagine you are a 58-year-old lonley woman who suddenly finds a younger
and handsom man courting you. Then discover, months later, that he was
secretly sent to you by the criminal business that is out to destroy
you utterly. Most women would be enraged; others will go "nuts."
It was a repeat of the Paulette Cooper ploy.
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/07/09/Tampabay/Scientology_case_take.shtml
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