Death of Lisa McPherson

Lisa McPherson (February 10, 1959 – December 5, 1995) was an American Scientologist who died in the care of the Church of Scientology in Clearwater, Florida.

After a minor traffic accident where McPherson seemed unharmed, she removed her clothes in the street and paramedics transported her to a local hospital.

In order to avoid psychiatric intervention, local Scientologists convinced her to leave the hospital and seek care at the nearby Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization (FSO).

There she was held against her will for 17 days without any medical care, while her physical and mental condition rapidly deteriorated and she died.

Following the report by the state medical examiner that indicated that McPherson was a victim of negligent homicide, FSO was indicted on two felony charges, "abuse and/or neglect of a disabled adult" and "practicing medicine without a license."

In 1994, Lisa McPherson, who became a Scientology adherent at age 18, moved from Dallas, Texas, to Clearwater, Florida, with her employer, AMC Publishing, which was at that time owned by Bennetta Slaughter and operated and staffed primarily by Scientologists.

During June 1995, the Church of Scientology placed McPherson in an "Introspection Rundown" due to perceived mental instability.

McPherson completed the process, and she attested to the state of "Clear" in September.

On November 18, 1995, McPherson was involved in a minor car accident.

Paramedics initially left her alone because she was ambulatory, but after she began to remove her clothes, the paramedics decided to take her to the hospital.

McPherson remarked to the paramedics that she had taken off her clothes in hopes of obtaining counseling.

Hospital staff agreed that she was unharmed, but recommended keeping her overnight for observation.

Following intervention by fellow Scientologists, McPherson refused psychiatric observation or admission at the hospital and checked herself out after a short evaluation.

Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Frank Quesada concluded:

"Lisa McPherson refused psychiatric observation or admission at the hospital; she expressly stated her desire to receive the religious care and assistance from her fellow congregants that she and they wanted her to have."

McPherson was then taken to the Fort Harrison Hotel, also known as the Flag Land Base, where she was put under the care of staffers belonging to the Church's Flag Service Organization (FSO).

According to Scientology, McPherson was brought to the Fort Harrison Hotel for "rest and relaxation".

However, sworn statements demonstrate that she was brought there for another Introspection Rundown.

Mark McGarry, an attorney with the Florida Office of the State Attorney, characterized McPherson's care under the FSO as an "isolation watch":

"My understanding now is, from talking to many, many witnesses, the purpose of her being there in the Church, correct me if I'm wrong, she was experiencing some mental problems, and you guys were going to stabilize her through an isolation watch. And after that watch occurred, there was going to be a procedure run on her, and the procedure was an introspection rundown."

Scientology accommodated McPherson in a cabana and kept a "24 hours' watch" over her.

Detailed logs were kept on her day-to-day care.

These logs were handwritten on plain white paper.

Most of these logs were kept, but the logs for the last three days were summarized from the originals and the originals were shredded.

Brian J. Anderson, the then Commanding Officer of the Church's Office of Special Affairs (OSA) in Clearwater, said in his sworn statement:

"I saw the handwritten notes, gave a cursory look to see if the summary—see if they matched and matched, and I threw the handwritten reports in my shred basket, and I had the report, kept the report."

McPherson's "care logs" narrate the last seventeen days of her life: she was incoherent and sometimes violent, her nails were cut so she would not scratch herself or the staff, and she bruised her fists and feet while hitting the wall.

McPherson was given natural supplements and the drug chloral hydrate to help her sleep.

A Church staffer noted that she "looked ill like measles or chicken pox on her face."

On repeated occasions, McPherson refused food and protein shakes that the staff offered.

On November 26 and 30 and December 3 to 4, Church staff attempted to force feed her, noting that she spat the food out.

McPherson was noted to be very weak, not standing up nor on some days moving at all.

Scientologists who questioned this handling were told to "butt out".

On December 5, 1995, Church staffers contacted David Minkoff, a Scientologist medical doctor who twice prescribed McPherson Valium and chloral hydrate without examining her.

They requested for him to prescribe an antibiotic to McPherson because she seemed to have an infection.

Minkoff refused, stating that she should be taken to a hospital and he needed to see her before prescribing anything.

They objected, expressing fear that McPherson would be put under psychiatric care.

Dr. Janice Johnson, a senior medical officer at the Fort Harrison Hotel who was assigned to care for McPherson, stated that she had been gasping and had labored breathing while en route.

The charges were dropped after the state's medical examiner changed the cause of death from "undetermined" to an "accident" on June 13, 2000.

A civil suit brought by McPherson's family was settled on May 28, 2004.