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Two years ago today: Man claims Scientology enhances his Christianity, Remnant Fellowship Church's critics say verdict is a lesson
Mom sues Church of Scientology in son’s death
Antidepression medication locked away
CLEARWATER — A mother has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Church of Scientology, its Flag Service Organization and three parishioners, claiming they brought about her son’s death by denying him access to his antidepression medication.
Among the three parishioners named as defendants: Denise Gentile, the twin sister of the church’s current worldwide leader, David Miscavige, as well as her husband, Gerald Gentile.
Scientology-related deathsWhy are they dead, Scientology?The lawsuit stems from the death of Kyle T. Brennan, 20, who shot himself in the head on Feb. 16, 2007, in Clearwater, while visiting his father, who is a Scientologist.
Police determined the death was a suicide, but Victoria Britton, the young man’s mother, said Scientologists are responsible.
Filed in Tampa federal court Friday, the lawsuit claims Gentile and her husband persuaded Kyle Brennan’s father to take away his Lexapro, which his son was taking for depression and anxiety.
The suit, which also names Thomas Brennan as a defendant, states that the defendants tried to put Kyle Brennan into a Narconon drug treatment program.
Consumer Alert: Scientology QuackeryScientology is evil; its techniques are evil; its practice is a serious threat to the community, medically, morally, and socially; and its adherents are sadly deluded and often mentally ill… (Scientology is) the world’s largest organization of unqualified persons engaged in the practice of dangerous techniques which masquerade as mental therapy.
- Justice Anderson, Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia, quoted at What judges have to say about ScientologyComments & resources by ReligionNewsBlog.comKyle Brennan was not a Scientologist, the suit states.
The suit is being brought by attorney Ken Dandar, well-known for his extended legal battle against Scientology during the Lisa McPherson case. McPherson, a 36-year-old Scientologist, died in 1995 while in the care of church staffers in Clearwater.
Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis said the lawsuit is an attempt to “draw the church into something that we don’t have anything to do with.”
None of the Scientologists named as defendants were church staff members, he said. They were all just parishioners. And Davis emphasized that the events took place on private property without church involvement.
Even Narconon, the drug treatment program that uses L. Ron Hubbard’s teachings, is a separate entity from the Church of Scientology, he said.
Still, the case draws attention to Scientology’s opposition to psychiatric drugs like Lexapro, which it deems to be mind-altering.
[...]Dandar said Kyle was taking a 10 mg dose of Lexapro, which he descried as “moderate.” It was prescribed for him in early 2006 to help him with depression and anxiety.
He continued to use the drug while staying in his dad’s two-bedroom apartment at 423 Cleveland St. in Clearwater, Dandar said.
But a week into the stay, Denise Gentile and her husband prevailed upon Kyle’s father to take away the Lexapro medication and lock it in his truck, the lawsuit alleges.
[...]The mother, who is not a Scientologist, was adamant that she and her son did not want anything to do with the drug treatment, the lawsuit states. She insisted that her son be put back on Lexapro.
The medication remained locked away, the suit states.
On Feb. 16, 2007, just after 11 p.m., Kyle Brennan shot himself with a loaded .357 Magnum that he found in his father’s apartment, the lawsuit states.
[...]“They locked up his medicine, but not the loaded .357 Magnum. That’s the story line,” Dandar said. “I think that’s the case.”
[...]
• St. Petersburg Times complete coverage of Scientology
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