Scientology Medical Malpractice

"Indeed, Scientology has had a history of unlawfully practicing medicine, and authorities have attempted to hold its members accountable for doing so since the early 1950s." Affidavit of Dr. Stephen Kent

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"In his book The History of Man, Hubbard claimed this of auditing; "With it the blind again see, the insane become sane and the saner become saner." He also claimed to be able to cure cancer, radiation sickness and leukemia." East Grinstead Courier

"During 1959-1960, over a period of about five months, one unfortunate man was audited at the Melbourne HASI for more than 200 hours in an endeavour to cure him of cancer from which he was dying and did die. At a time when it was known at the HASI that he had been under medical treatment and was suffering from a malignant growth in his lower abdomen, the HASI quoted him 200 hours' auditing for a stable case gain." The Anderson Report, Chapter 19: The Healing Claims of Scientology

A Scientologist MD was heavily fined for sending his depressive patients to a cult. The cult was Scientology.

"[T]here are some staff members, Fred Hodgekinson is one and Ernie — I don't remember his last name — but they work in the Engineering Department, and they do physical labor, and they're about seventy years old, all right? And they give these guys auditing and processing, you know, to help — they've got arthritis, okay? One of them's got some serious back problems. Well, they tell them that through this auditing, they'll cure that so they can go ahead and work. And they push them just as hard as they push anybody else. And I've seen them collapse twice." David Ray (1982)

"In the legal periphery where cults reside, shrouded by irrelevant issues of religion, there is no accountability or protection for the consumer of quasi-medical or self-improvement services." Social Control in Scientology

Confidentiality
"Auditing", variously described by Scientology as a spiritual, psychological or medical process, is "guaranteed" by that organization to be confidential under "priest/penitent privilege". They compare it with confessing to a Catholic priest. This is wildly inaccurate.


 * "Auditing processes are supposed to be confidential; they are not. You walk — you go in with the attitude that you are — that your personal life will be private. That is not true. Your personal life, once you leave, is totally exposed to the press, exposed to other family members. It's an exposure to your husband, an exposure to anyone that wants to see it." Lavenda van Schaick

In fact, your most private thoughts and experiences, extracted from you as you desperately strive to satisfy Scientology's unending demand for "overts and withholds" (O/Ws) that can be the only reason you have doubts of the perfection of the organization -- these inner uncertainties are publicized without the slightest excuse. Staff members will snigger over your sexual history. Others will use this information to ridicule you in front of your peers. If you are concerned about abuse within the organization, request the wages/conditions you were promised when you joined, resist orders to divorce your spouse or disconnect from your family, or try to leave, you will be blackmailed with these "confessions".

G-L

 * Hartwell, Adell
 * MR. LeCHER: Did Mr. Hubbard cure your cancer?
 * MRS. HARTWELL: ... no, he couldn't cure anything. He was terrified of getting sick.
 * The Clearwater Commission


 * Hartwell, Ernie
 *  I have varicose veins very badly in my leg. Of course, I'm more concerned about [that] as far as my dancing career is concerned. But [Scientology] told me they could cure them. Without going to a doctor, they told me they could cure them. Now, that, of course, I found later is -- nobody's ever heard of anybody curing them -- varicose veins through mental treatment. The Clearwater Commission


 * Kates, Charlotte L.
 * "[Charlotte] made a declaration about a woman who returned to Flag for further "handling" for her Lyme disease, which was continually worsening as she put off medical treatment on the advice of CoS [Church of Scientology] representatives. Once again, after receiving numerous "intensives" Flag auditing, she was still afflicted with Lyme disease. Nevertheless, Scientology continued to exploit the situation for money." Declaration

In rare cases, the disease may become chronic, with a slowly developing destruction of the nervous system, numbing, partial hearing impairment and the development of dementia. Neuro borrelia demands immediate treatment, usually with an admission to hospital. 

This woman paid the Scientologists all she could afford, even took out a second mortgate on her house and was pressured to beg from wealthy Scientologists for yet more money to pay for Scientology handling which failed to cure her.

M-R

 * McPherson Lisa  When David Miscavige was forced to give evidence in court over Lisa McPherson this allegedly started him onto a downward spiral of increasing irrationality.  (An error occurred while I was watching this video, I or someone else should watch it through.)


 * Perkins, Jeremy 1 Jeremy Perkins was a Schizophrenic from a family of Scientologists.  He was given Scientology based vitamins and worthless auditing instead of modern psychiatric treatment which Scientologists reject.  On the anniversary of  L. Ron Hubbard’s birthday, March 13, 2003 Perkins stabbed Elli, his mother 77 times and killed her.  He is currently in a psychiatric hospital.


 * Peterson, Janie
 * "[M]yself and Carole Garrity, who I already mentioned, became ill at that time; we became — we had bad colds. And we were taken into the Assistant Guardian's Office, who's in charge of the Guardian's Office, and we were told that the reason we had become sick was because of the FBI." The Clearwater Commission

Narconon

 * "I am familiar with the "Hubbard Method" of "detoxification" which is used at Scientologist run "clinics".... This "purification" program was created by L. Ron Hubbard's fertile imagination in the mid-1950s. It is part of the teachings of the Church of Scientology and lacks any credible scientific support.


 * This "purification" or "detoxification" program is claimed to help "clear" the mind of toxins such as drugs, pesticides and chemical pollutants. It consists of large doses of niacin, vegetable oil, exercise and "low temperature" saunas. According to the followers of L. Ron Hubbard, the large doses of niacin work by stimulating the release of fat into the blood stream and this is accompanied by various "toxins" trapped in the body's fatty tissues.


 * According to science, large doses of niacin actually block the release of fat from fat cells. This has been observed both at rest [Acta Medica Scandinavia 1962, 172(suppl):641)] and during exercise. [D. Jenkins, Lancet 1965, 1307]


 * In other words, the scientific evidence shows the exact opposite of what Hubbard's theory predicts. There is no credible support for claims that large doses of niacin clear toxins from the brain, fatty tissue or any other part of the body. To make matters worse, large doses of niacin ... can cause serious liver damage ... trigger gout, raise blood sugar into the diabetic range, cause itching, flushing and a rash. Nausea and gastritis are other side effects of large doses of niacin.


 * To subject people to these potentially serious side effects on the pretense that they are being "detoxified," "cleared" or "purified" is quackery."'' Dr. James J. Kenney, National Council Against Health Fraud

The Personality Test
The "Oxford Capacity Analysis Personality Test" (OCA) has nothing to do with Oxford University and even less to do with accurate analysis. No matter how stable your personality, no matter how positive your lifestyle, even if you are sitting pretty with a rainbow around your shoulder, you can't pass this test.

S-Z

 * van Schaick, Lavenda (q.v.)
 * MR. CALDERBANK: Were there any scientific guarantees given to you about auditing as to what it could cure? Did you -- was it sold to you as helping any of your problems?
 * MS. VAN.SCHAICK: Yes. And also medical at that time. ..
 * MR. CALDERBANK: Can you give me a specific medical problem?
 * MS. VAN SCHAICK: Headaches.
 * MR. CALDERBANK: Headaches. Did it cure your headaches?
 * MS. VAN SCHAICK: No. It gave me more headaches. The Clearwater Commission


 * "And the [unqualified] Medical Officer gave me alcohol and she told me to rinse my mouth out with alcohol and then swallow it. And I can imagine what the effects would have — luckily, I happened to take a whiff of the stuff before that occurred." (ibid)


 * Stevens, Tom
 * "I remember one man named Tom Stevens, who had appendicitis that went untreated for a couple of days until he finally had emergency surgery. He was forced back on the job by the Church after only two days of recovery and performed his duties in considerable pain." Affidavit of Suzette M. Dearing


 * Taverna, Lori
 * "When you're on NOTS, you also -- NED for OTs auditing, people are required to take certain vitamins. You have to take B 1. 1 think it was five hundred milligrams - I'm not sure - which I think is very large. And you also had to have three or four glasses of something called Calmag. This is calcium magnesium, and you have to drink this. This is something for your nerves, which is like a natural tranquilizer to keep you destimulated, as they call it, during processing. I had a bad reaction to both of them. I had nightmares from the B1. It was an overdose of vitamins. But all people were required to do this." 1


 * Whitfield, Hana
 * "By 1975, Hubbard's auditing techniques were already affecting me negatively. I had almost constant migraine headaches and was scared that Hubbard's techniques no longer worked on me. In October 1975, Hubbard moved his organization ashore to Clearwater, Florida. From then on to the early 1980s, I got worse. I couldn't get medication strong enough to stop the never ending pain. By early 1976, I developed suicidal ideation because I couldn't conceive any other way to stop the pain. It continued unabated until well after I left the Sea Org in March 1982." Affidavit

Sterling Management Systems
Sterling Management Systems is one of Scientology's front groups, which hide their Scientology connections while funnelling clients and money into the main Scientology organization. Sterling aggressively targets health professionals like dentists, chiropractors and veterinarians.

"[Cleveland dentist Donald] Shumaker said he became uneasy about what he termed unethical practices promoted by Sterling — mostly that health professionals prescribe high-cost procedures regardless of whether they are in the patients' best interests." Akron Beacon Journal article

List of victims of Scientology