A St. Louis dentist arrested on charges of Medicaid fraud cannot be forced to take “mind-altering drugs,” the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today.
In a 6-3 decision, justices reversed a lower court ruling that ordered Dr. Charles Sell to be medicated against his will, though two lower federal courts had agreed he posed no threat to himself or to others.
In those cases, the government had argued Sell was not mentally fit to stand trial and could not be until he was medicated. Sell had argued he didn’t need the drugs and had experienced bad reactions to them in the past.
In friend-of-the-court briefs, the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons contended that Sell, who has been in custody in federal prison in Springfield, Mo., without a trial thus far, has been incarcerated longer than if he’d have already been convicted of the government’s charge of Medicaid fraud.
Also, the physician’s group complained that lower federal courts had ordered the forced drugging without limitation on the quantity and type of drug. Finally, the group argued courts should have to consider less intrusive alternatives to forced drugging, as one appellate court had done.
AAPS said justices had adopted those positions in their ruling.
“Never did we think our own country would imprison a peaceful defendant for more than five years without a trial,” said AAPS general counsel Andrew Schlafly. “We are gratified that the Supreme Court sees no justification in the record for forcibly drugging him.
“We used to complain when the communists engaged in such tactics,” he added. “This should not occur in America.”
Sells, who rendered care to poor families, has been incarcerated more than 64 months. One report said justices on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, which ruled he could be drugged, said if he’d have been convicted of the charges and given a maximum sentence, he would have only served 41 months. He has served 20 months in solitary confinement, say reports.
Because of screaming fits during court appearances and apparently paranoid delusions, including Sell’s stated belief that he knew secrets about government culpability in the deaths at Waco, the lower court decided in April 1999 that he was not competent to stand trial, Reason Magazine reported.
The ruling said the Constitution allows the government to administer drugs only “in limited circumstances,” and only when doing so “will significantly further” the government’s goal of bringing the case to trial, AP reported.
