Connecticut Post Online
HARTFORD — A bioethics expert testified Friday that he believes Connecticut prison doctors acted unethically when they force-fed a British citizen on a hunger strike to protest his conviction for rape.
Arthur Caplan, a University of Pennsylvania bioethics professor and director of the school’s bioethics center, said inmate William Coleman has the right to refuse forced feedings and other treatment.
“I do not believe it was ethical,” Caplan said. “A competent adult like Mr. Coleman has the right to refuse any and all medical treatment.”
Caplan’s testimony came in the second day of a civil case in which the Department of Correction is seeking a permanent court order allowing officials to force-feed Coleman if they consider it medically necessary. Coleman is expected to take the stand next week.
Coleman, 48, is serving an eight-year sentence for a 2002 rape and has been on a hunger strike for 16 months to protest what he considers an unjust judicial system.
He has not eaten any solid food during that time. In September, on the anniversary of his hunger strike, he stopped accepting fluids. Officials said he had lost more than 100 pounds when they decided to perform two force-feeding sessions last October using a nasal feeding tube.
In addition to inserting the tube without Coleman’s permission, the state has inserted an intravenous port and fed him a solution of dextrose and saline at least 10 times.
Dr. Edward Blanchette, the corrections department’s clinical director, said he believes Coleman would be dead today if those steps weren’t taken.
Lynn Wittenbrink, an assistant attorney general, tried to discredit Caplan’s testimony by saying he has never stepped inside a prison and is unfamiliar with reasons why a correctional system would force-feed an inmate.
The World Medical Association does not support force-feeding of competent individuals, but the American Correctional Health Service Association has said involuntary medical treatment should be reserved for emergency situations in correctional institutions.
Coleman was convicted in 2005 of an assault against someone close to him. The Associated Press does not typically identify victims of sexual assault. Coleman has said his accuser filed the charges as part of a dispute and no physical evidence of rape was introduced at his trial.
Coleman appeared in court Friday, looking gaunt and pale. His behavior was reserved in comparison to Thursday’s hearing, when he waved and blew kisses at supporters.
For much of Friday’s testimony, he sat silently with his head resting on his hand, occasionally shaking his head in disagreement.
Correction officials are defending their decision to force-feed Coleman, saying the state is legally obligated to ensure the physical well-being of those in its custody.
Dr. Suzanne Ducatte, director of psychological services for Connecticut’s prison system, testified that nasal feeding tubes were used without complications with inmates in Texas when she worked there.
“It’s a relatively simple procedure. It’s done quickly,” she said, adding she never heard of a patient complain of significant pain.
Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut say the state is violating Coleman’s rights to free speech and to refuse medical treatment. They argue Coleman is conducting the same type of peaceful protest used by the late Mahatma Gandhi.
Coleman has refused solid foods since Sept. 17, 2007.
Blanchette said Coleman weighed 237 pounds when he began his strike, and had dropped to 133 pounds when the nasal force-feeding occurred.
Coleman is currently drinking fluids, including fortified shakes, and has not been force-fed since October. His lawyers estimate he now weighs about 150 pounds.
Blanchette testified that he tried repeatedly to persuade Coleman to eat or drink so they could avoid the force-feedings, but without success.
“We would not proceed with this unless we really felt, I felt, this was medically necessary ... I don’t want to be in a position where I’m forcing treatment on anybody, but in this case, I felt it was necessary,” Blanchette testified Friday.
Blanchette said Coleman was restrained during the two sessions and “was yelling, ‘Stop, I don’t want this,’ words to that effect.”
Coleman, a native of Liverpool, England, is the former women’s soccer coach at Central Connecticut State University.
He has lost several attempts to appeal his rape conviction.
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