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Recent article on EPs being "forced" to do a body cavity search on suspected drug dealers at San Francisco General. Interesting ethical debate.
(1/28/04) San Francisco Chronicle.
Robert Golomb MD
Berkeley, California
San Francisco has had some touchy police standoffs -- but nothing quite
like the 10-hour showdown that came to a head in the San Francisco
General emergency room between cops, doctors and a female drug suspect
who refused to surrender several rocks of crack cocaine she was
concealing in her very private parts.
Before it was all over, a doctor was herself being threatened with
arrest -- and the head of the city's Health Department was on his way
down to do the search himself.
It all started routinely enough in the wee hours Monday, when cops on a
stakeout spied the 20-year-old suspected dealer working the 2000 block
of Mission Street.
As they moved in to arrest her, the woman reached into her pants and a
batch of suspected cocaine disappeared.
The woman, who was already on probation for a drug offense, was
handcuffed and taken to the Mission District station, where a female
officer strip-searched her. The officer reported seeing "a shiny piece
of plastic slightly protruding'' from between the suspect's legs -- but
before the evidence could be seized, the woman pushed it out of sight
and refused to cooperate any further, according to the police report.
That's when the calls started flying -- first to the police narcotics
unit seeking advice, then to the county jail, where deputies said they
couldn't do anything until the woman was evaluated at San Francisco General.
And that's just where she was taken. And where she waited until 8:30
a.m., when the cops got a judge to sign a "body cavity search warrant.''
The problem was, nobody wanted to do it.
The attending physician refused to help, saying it wasn't a medical
emergency.
The intake nurse at the county jail said she couldn't do it because she
didn't have the equipment.
By now things are getting hot -- and Capt. Tim Hettrich, head of the
Police Department's narcotics detail, was called to the scene, telling
the attending doctor that the next step was going to be to get a judge's
order -- "and if you don't comply, we won't have any choice but to
arrest you.''
The warning -- delivered within earshot of patients -- sent tempers
flaring, according to witnesses, and soon everyone was hustling into a
conference room. Hospital higher-ups were brought in and Health
Department Director Dr. Mitch Katz was pulled out of a meeting to
consult by phone.
Even the suspect's probation officer was brought in to help.
By late morning -- after consultation with city lawyers -- the warring
parties reached a compromise.
If the suspect wouldn't cooperate, then Katz himself would come down to
the hospital and conduct the search. That way, none of the attending
physicians at S.F. General would be forced to compromise their
patient-client relationship.
A female physician was then assigned to sit down with the suspect to
explain the difficult circumstance she was facing.
At which point, according to the police report, she reached beneath a
blanket covering her legs and produced a plastic bag containing several
rocks of crack cocaine. With that, she was booked into the county jail.
End of crisis -- but hardly the end of the story. Hospital staffers are
still fuming over their treatment by the cops, with one insider telling
us Hettrich's behavior "was out of line, and his job should be reviewed.''
"There needs to be confidence in us, and if the emergency room becomes
known as a place where you get body cavity-searched and strip-searched,
then patients are not going to trust us,'' said Dr. Alan Gelb, chief of
the Department of Emergency Services.
Hettrich insists the cops were only doing their jobs.
"Look, we were caught between a rock and hard place,'' the captain said.
"We have a felon selling drugs on the street and hiding drugs on her
body -- what am I to do?''
(1/28/04) San Francisco Chronicle.
Robert Golomb MD
Berkeley, California
San Francisco has had some touchy police standoffs -- but nothing quite
like the 10-hour showdown that came to a head in the San Francisco
General emergency room between cops, doctors and a female drug suspect
who refused to surrender several rocks of crack cocaine she was
concealing in her very private parts.
Before it was all over, a doctor was herself being threatened with
arrest -- and the head of the city's Health Department was on his way
down to do the search himself.
It all started routinely enough in the wee hours Monday, when cops on a
stakeout spied the 20-year-old suspected dealer working the 2000 block
of Mission Street.
As they moved in to arrest her, the woman reached into her pants and a
batch of suspected cocaine disappeared.
The woman, who was already on probation for a drug offense, was
handcuffed and taken to the Mission District station, where a female
officer strip-searched her. The officer reported seeing "a shiny piece
of plastic slightly protruding'' from between the suspect's legs -- but
before the evidence could be seized, the woman pushed it out of sight
and refused to cooperate any further, according to the police report.
That's when the calls started flying -- first to the police narcotics
unit seeking advice, then to the county jail, where deputies said they
couldn't do anything until the woman was evaluated at San Francisco General.
And that's just where she was taken. And where she waited until 8:30
a.m., when the cops got a judge to sign a "body cavity search warrant.''
The problem was, nobody wanted to do it.
The attending physician refused to help, saying it wasn't a medical
emergency.
The intake nurse at the county jail said she couldn't do it because she
didn't have the equipment.
By now things are getting hot -- and Capt. Tim Hettrich, head of the
Police Department's narcotics detail, was called to the scene, telling
the attending doctor that the next step was going to be to get a judge's
order -- "and if you don't comply, we won't have any choice but to
arrest you.''
The warning -- delivered within earshot of patients -- sent tempers
flaring, according to witnesses, and soon everyone was hustling into a
conference room. Hospital higher-ups were brought in and Health
Department Director Dr. Mitch Katz was pulled out of a meeting to
consult by phone.
Even the suspect's probation officer was brought in to help.
By late morning -- after consultation with city lawyers -- the warring
parties reached a compromise.
If the suspect wouldn't cooperate, then Katz himself would come down to
the hospital and conduct the search. That way, none of the attending
physicians at S.F. General would be forced to compromise their
patient-client relationship.
A female physician was then assigned to sit down with the suspect to
explain the difficult circumstance she was facing.
At which point, according to the police report, she reached beneath a
blanket covering her legs and produced a plastic bag containing several
rocks of crack cocaine. With that, she was booked into the county jail.
End of crisis -- but hardly the end of the story. Hospital staffers are
still fuming over their treatment by the cops, with one insider telling
us Hettrich's behavior "was out of line, and his job should be reviewed.''
"There needs to be confidence in us, and if the emergency room becomes
known as a place where you get body cavity-searched and strip-searched,
then patients are not going to trust us,'' said Dr. Alan Gelb, chief of
the Department of Emergency Services.
Hettrich insists the cops were only doing their jobs.
"Look, we were caught between a rock and hard place,'' the captain said.
"We have a felon selling drugs on the street and hiding drugs on her
body -- what am I to do?''