SEA ORG MEDICAL

[Bea Kiddo]

There is a lot to say on the subject of staff welfare. I have a number of stories about staff medical care that are just off the top of my head. I have many, many more, so I decided to start a thread on it, so I can have a place to note them all.

Some of them are in my story. But it deserves its own thread.

----

As a child, being raised in the Sea Org, I was fortunately in good health and did not need much in the way of health care. At the age of 7 I needed stitches and was brought to Shaw Health Center (Scn doctor clinic in LA) and given care. I dont know if the org or my mother had to pay for it.

----

When I was 14 I fractured a bone in my foot. I was taken to the Childrens Hospital, which was just up the street from PAC Base. I know that this visit was not paid for. My mother got me a Social Security Card at the time and somehow, through government insurance of some sort, this was paid for. (I was young and did not follow up exactly).

----

As I was in the SO, and dealt a lot with staff welfare and care, I ran into a lot of things about this. Now, some critic (a critic of me, such as a member of the cult) could say that this was my resonsibility to handle the staff welfare, so really this is about myself and my neglect of the staff. But really. Lets confront this here. Its the system. The way it is set up.

Does the staff have medical insurance? And dental insurance? 401K? Vision?

----

As the SSO, I was given, on average, $200.00 per week to care for the staff. That is 200 staff. So one dollar per week, per staff member.

I tried to get little thises and thats paid for, but it was rather difficult. Mind you, the CO did try to help where possible. If there was a real medical problem with a staff member, he would do all he could to help financially to make sure that they were cared for. But that was only when things really got bad. Preventative was totally missing, except for the vitamins that I would purchase every week.

----

There are a couple of medical stories to be told here:

There was a security guard who was ill for 3 days with a headache. He could not work. I went to see him (nobody bothered to even tell me he was out ill until the third day) and saw a VERY PALE and weak person. He said his head was killing him. I decided to send him to the doctors. I brought him to Shaw and dropped him off. By the time I got back to CCI, I already had an urgent call from Dr Shields. She told me I had to RUSH him to a hospital and get him a blood transfusion immediately or he would die. He had already lost 3 pints of blood. (He did not tell me this when I saw him). Even though there are hospitals ALL AROUND the PAC Base, did I go to any of them? No. We went all the way out to County Hospital, in Sylmar, which is about 20 - 25 minute drive. He did make it, thank goodness. The reason we did that was to save on cost. County hospital can be free if you know how to work the system. At least back then it was. They changed it for a small fee since then.

----

Another person I knew, who was on the RPF, but still, he is a SOLO NOTs C/S, and so for that, should be considered valuable to the church. He was having heart problems and long story short, he needed a pacemaker. It was all done by interns at the downtown LA hospital. For cost reasons.

----

Maybe some lives could have been saved, if medical insurance existed, and people were not made wrong and made to feel they had case on post if they have a medical condition. I know there are friends and family of Natalie Ellis (may she rest in peace) read here, but I feel obligated to mention this:

In these cases of cancer showing up when they are too far advanced to do anything about them..... could they have been prevented had insurance been available and they could get checked out early enough that it could save their lives? Off hand, I could list a lot of people who lost their lives to cancer. Could they have been prevented by proper medical checkups, which do not exist in the SO?

To you, those who did not survive cancer (I love you all):

Jill Graham
Allen Hubbert
John Mustard
Natalie Ellis
Erik Knauerhase
Beth Yamaguchi
Carol Monroe
David Russouw

And Felicia Balentine, who passed away from complications from the flu.

May you all rest in peace.

(More stories to come. And please, add your own)

 

[Alanzo]

I helped and contributed to these people for 16 years of my life.

I think it is time they change, and become the people they pretended they were to me, in order to get me to help them.

Criminal neglect of staff is right up there with enforced disconnection as one of the worst crimes of the Church of Scientology.

They will be treated better in jail than they ever treated their own staff.

 

[Ralph Hilton]

At Flag from 1972 to 1982 I never had problems with needed medical care. I had some bad tooth problems around 1980 and there was no delay in getting the needed root canals and crowns paid for. From what I can gather Mary Sue was a major force in insisting on staff getting health care. It seems that with her off the lines it all fell to pieces.

 

[ozzie]

Early days of Flag on the ship and at the base in Clearwater, getting really needed medical care was done, even some dental, but there were conditions. (ie post how valuable etc etc you were, whether you were about to die or not etc ).
Later on - 82 on I'd say it was terrible - couldn't get anything. When pregnant most of us at Flag in Clearwater when we first got there were put onto the welfare system. That was how all that was paid for. Dental was hard to get but if you had a management post or an executive post you got it - albeit sometimes late. And then again it depended on how bad the situation was.
I had a very bad strep infection - was taken to emergency - was on welfare so that was paid by that, but they wouldn't get the medication because I was "PTS" and needed that handled - sides drugs were bad bad bad!!! I had a 104 temp for five days - I realized later the Medical Officer and those concerned were lucky I didn't die! I lost 20lbs during that sickness and mind you any PTS handling was never done anyway cause I was needed back on post.
Later in PAC in mid 80s - same thing put on welfare or in my case cause my husband was not SO I got medicaid. SO didn't pay for anything and I was having seizures. They didn't give a toot, I wasn't senior enuf for them to care at that point.
There was also a wonderful lady at ASHO who I had known in my ship days who was dying of cancer and she was having the hardest time getting medication for herself through FP (She was the Purser there)- countless times it would get cut and she would cry and cry and tell me she didn't want to die a painful death. Nobody in the right places cared enuf to get her medication thro.
It really sucks how caring for the staff is such low priority in the Sea Org.
There is I think a consideration (at least in my 17 yrs of being in) that if you have an important post or are an executive - you will get needed care. If you don't too bad - you get put into an "isolation" room and hopefully you get better by youself in amongst the cockroaches and the mattresses on the floor with no sheets - was like that in my time in.

Yep - those were the days!!!

Ozzie

 

[Div6]

Apart from the issues of cost (Health Care plans are expensive, and most Cl IV/V orgs would not be able to pay the premiums given their weekly GI ranges, the SO may be different in that regard) the CoS has historically flaunted the "laws of the land" as regards paying in to Social Security, minimum wage, etc. They are able to get away with it by using the the exemptions granted by US law to 'establishment of religion'.

Remember that the King (or Queen) of England was also the head of the Church of England, and many bloody wars were fought about that (Catholic, Protestant, back and forth). The founding fathers did not want ANY "state sanctioned religion" and thus they crafted the 1st Amendment in the way they did. I do not fault them for not seeing that it would become an exploitable opportunistic loophole in the future.

That said, I think it speaks volumes that the staff who are caring for the public are not likewise being cared for. FP's in Cl V orgs were a bit of a joke, as you had to take the Mamgement expenses off the top. What was left was often a choice of paying the staff or haveing enough money for bulkmail postage of which 3/4's was wasted in Add Unk returns. When I was on Exec Council, I would always pay the staff first. Got into some screamers with the FBO, but that was just the way it was......

And the management "tithes" were for Int and Gold, so you would then have the CLO's running "missions" every other week or so, just to collect the "mission fee" so they could eat. The early booming orgs had no such overhead. They were built "from the ground up", and external influences were determined locally and dealt with locally......for a while, anyway.

 

[Tanstaafl]

That said, I think it speaks volumes that the staff who are caring for the public are not likewise being cared for. FP's in Cl V orgs were a bit of a joke, as you had to take the Mamgement expenses off the top. What was left was often a choice of paying the staff or haveing enough money for bulkmail postage of which 3/4's was wasted in Add Unk returns. When I was on Exec Council, I would always pay the staff first. Got into some screamers with the FBO, but that was just the way it was......

When I was in, staff pay was 30% of corrected gross income. Sometimes a pittance but often less than that. The only time there was ever enough in a wage packet for a half-decent night out was when there was FSMC from Flag.

The FBO's didn't operate at the time as a "financial dictatorship" was in force. Everything went uplines.

 

[Zinjifar]

I think it's important to clarify that Hubbard's hostility was not limited to 'Psychs' but to 'medicos' in general. His 'philosophy', from the beginning, posited that 'unhealth' was self-imposed (or the result of a 'PTS' situation) and any 'policies' that stress getting necessary 'health care' were for the most part mealy-mouthed charades; aimed at avoiding responsibility for the inability of Scientology to fulfill its claims as to even purely physical health.

Take that ingrained philosophy and throw in the greed that sees medical costs as running counter to the absolute *need* to boom Scientology in the world and it's amazing that anyone got any treatment for anything.

Zinj

 

[everfree]

In the late ninties, Bruce Gaines of ASHO had heart trouble. A friend and I were asked to drive an SO member out to see him. The SO member turned out to be a snotnosed teenage punk. The kid told me that they wanted a watch on Bruce to make sure the hospital didn't give him psych drugs and to give him assists.

Bruce was in a Catholic hospital over an hour away from PAC. When I asked why, given that there a half dozen hospitals within blocks, Bruce as a heart patient was sent so far away the kid told me it was because the church didn't pay for his care. His care was being provided via state medical coupons and the only hospital that would accept them was the Catholic one an hour away.

He went on to sniff derisively that Bruce's condition was just psychosomatic because he was "serfacing", and it was really a lot of "dev-t" to have to go out to watch him.

I was still very much in at that point but still thought that was one of the coldest things I'd ever heard and felt real fear realizing that that's how the SO was teaching kids to think.

 

[Bea Kiddo]

Bruce Gaines was still alive in 2004 when I left. He still has those heart troubles. I dont think they have done much to help him with it.

I worked across from him in the C/S office for a year. I dont recall any medical assistance given to him.

Though he got plenty of ethics and justice actions. And alot of grief. He really is a nice guy. I felt sorry for him.

 

[johnAnchovie]

Medical handlings

I remember that a lot of the US based SO memebrs who were UK citizens when they got very ill, were sent back to the UK for operations and so on, because UK has a free health care system, Robyn Mathison and her lovely child were sent back from SMI int, the child, a cadet, died of an incurable heart ailment shortly after that, Dad could not get back to the UK for the child's final days, I don't think he even made the funeral, as he was CO CLO EUS and was not given CSW approval. The Church, a bona fide, humanitarian, religious body.

Thelma and Arthur Cusworth, too old and ill to be viably financed through expensive medical care in Hemet, were shipped back, Pam Malinson, when she got cancer, sent back to the UK to die. There are many more, in fact Int and Flag planned to send all their pensioners and elederly to SH for this same reason, the move was resisted at CLO UK as there were huge supplimentary care issues for the CLO in this. I don't know how many people this was supposed to be, but it struck me as a mighty cynical move by a church that had a weekly income of well over three million on service sales alone...

 

[Colleen K. Peltomaa]

I think it's important to clarify that Hubbard's hostility was not limited to 'Psychs' but to 'medicos' in general. His 'philosophy', from the beginning, posited that 'unhealth' was self-imposed (or the result of a 'PTS' situation) and any 'policies' that stress getting necessary 'health care' were for the most part mealy-mouthed charades; aimed at avoiding responsibility for the inability of Scientology to fulfill its claims as to even purely physical health.

Take that ingrained philosophy and throw in the greed that sees medical costs as running counter to the absolute *need* to boom Scientology in the world and it's amazing that anyone got any treatment for anything.

Zinj

Pre-Scientolgy, when my children were little and I was working full time and we needed the money, I once told my children with very strong intention, "Don't get sick". They never did. I did give them vitamins though.

The identity that one had to assume in the church as a staff or SO was a trench warfare identity and I found that I did have that identity within myself.

 

[Bea Kiddo]

Another medical story:

This is about a Manor Hotel staff member, who's name is Heinz MG. He is a german guy, very tall. Older. I believe he was in his 60's when he was in the SO.

He used to come see me alot as the SSO because he COULD NOT sleep. This went on for months. I tried to give him LRH tech, such as taking walks and holding the corners of the room. I also put him on a vitamin regimen.

None of it helped.

It got worse and worse. He was totally unable to sleep. For months.

There was no money to send him to a doctor (Manor Hotel and CCI are different orgs and have different finance lines).

I did not know what to do with him.

---

In the end, he went psychotic. Full Type III. I know that they isolated him. I dont know if he received the Introspection RD or not. But he still wasnt sleeping then either. They got medical tests done on him, and found no medical reason for the trouble sleeping. They tried to give him sleep medication, and he refused it (violently - throwing it). Then they decided to give it to him in a gel form. They put it inside the peanut butter and jelly sandwich that he was given. He ate it maybe twice. It never helped him to sleep. He figured out what they were doing and got all violent again.

I remember, in the end, it was found that he had SEVERE tooth decay. Extremely severe and his gums were swollen and infected. He ended up needing surgeries (I believe) to address it.

--

He was finally routed out of the SO. I think he went back to Germany somewhere.

I hope he is ok.

He was a nice, well-intentioned person, before this violence turned on from the lack of sleep.

 

[Div6]

Another medical story:

This is about a Manor Hotel staff member, who's name is Heinz MG. He is a german guy, very tall. Older. I believe he was in his 60's when he was in the SO.

He used to come see me alot as the SSO because he COULD NOT sleep. This went on for months. I tried to give him LRH tech, such as taking walks and holding the corners of the room. I also put him on a vitamin regimen.

None of it helped.

It got worse and worse. He was totally unable to sleep. For months.

There was no money to send him to a doctor (Manor Hotel and CCI are different orgs and have different finance lines).

I did not know what to do with him.

---

In the end, he went psychotic. Full Type III. I know that they isolated him. I dont know if he received the Introspection RD or not. But he still wasnt sleeping then either. They got medical tests done on him, and found no medical reason for the trouble sleeping. They tried to give him sleep medication, and he refused it (violently - throwing it). Then they decided to give it to him in a gel form. They put it inside the peanut butter and jelly sandwich that he was given. He ate it maybe twice. It never helped him to sleep. He figured out what they were doing and got all violent again.

I remember, in the end, it was found that he had SEVERE tooth decay. Extremely severe and his gums were swollen and infected. He ended up needing surgeries (I believe) to address it.

--

He was finally routed out of the SO. I think he went back to Germany somewhere.

I hope he is ok.

He was a nice, well-intentioned person, before this violence turned on from the lack of sleep.

I would think that having a line to MD's would be one of the basic points of a "Non-E" formula for any SSO...

But as I recall, the "SSO posted" was a requirement for an ED to be able to take full "Paid Completion Points" which was, after all, the ED\CO's stat.

So, in my experience, the SSO was just a "figurehead", not really there to care for the staff, but to "enable" the CO\ED to take full points.

This is in no way a comment on you or your intentions, Bea, it is a comment on "the system". It engenders a culture where the emphasis is on "the reward"...(paid completion points......wheeee!) instead of "the product".

Well, happy hatted staff, or whatever it is...


If Scn Inc would just quit dramatizing, and put some integrity in, it would do well....

 

[Bea Kiddo]

I would think that having a line to MD's would be one of the basic points of a "Non-E" formula for any SSO...

But as I recall, the "SSO posted" was a requirement for an ED to be able to take full "Paid Completion Points" which was, after all, the ED\CO's stat.

So, in my experience, the SSO was just a "figurehead", not really there to care for the staff, but to "enable" the CO\ED to take full points.

This is in no way a comment on you or your intentions, Bea, it is a comment on "the system". It engenders a culture where the emphasis is on "the reward"...(paid completion points......wheeee!) instead of "the product".

Well, happy hatted staff, or whatever it is...


If Scn Inc would just quit dramatizing, and put some integrity in, it would do well....

Well, I did have a line to the MD's actually. With Dr Denk and Dr Shields. It was difficult to get them on the phone right away, but sometimes I could ask them for advice. They would always call me back and help me. They were pretty helpful with Sea Org members.

I did myself have to see Dr Denk on a number of occasions for emergency reasons and he hardly ever charged me, or if he did, it was very little. Dr Shields always charged full prices (with SO discount).

It is true that an SSO has to be posted or the Paid completions stat is penalized. It does say in the same reference that they have to be actively working on the post (I forget the exact wording, but to the effect of getting staff enhanced with training and processing) in order for the stat to not be penalized. But, if you have an SSO on post, the stat is not penalized. That is the deal.

But the thing is that the staff auditors dont exist. And you cant do a co-audit because the auditors have to be fully trained on the Levels, not a co-audit checksheet (I tried). And if they were trained on the levels, they could just audit each other in regular auditing rooms and not need a co-audit sup. I tried many ways to get the staff audited. As much as I could. I only got arbitraries and stops. Was nuts. I was getting them audited by the Interns. That worked for a while until someone said something out security in session about a celeb and it flapped and no interns or non-SO could audit staff. So then there were only three people in the org to audit staff: Me, myself and I. And i was supping a courseroom 3 periods per day. And had to handle medical of over 200 staff.

It was fucking crazy.

'Scuse the lingo.

One person actually slapped me across the face. She was so upset and angry that I was not getting her in session and getting people up the Bridge.

SSO is a very frustrating post.

I finally gave up and decided to just do nothing. Screw it.

After Natalie Ellis died, my senior kept calling me a murderer and telling me that I was trying to kill the staff with my neglect. That did not make me feel any better.

Plus Natalie was my FRIEND. She withheld the pain she was feeling and the condition she was in until it was TOO late for the medicos to do anything.

Very frustrating area for me, staff medical.

No money. No way to really care for the staff. No insurance. Nothing.

Rambling... sorry

 

[Dulloldfart]

But the thing is that the staff auditors dont exist. And you cant do a co-audit because the auditors have to be fully trained on the Levels, not a co-audit checksheet (I tried). And if they were trained on the levels, they could just audit each other in regular auditing rooms and not need a co-audit sup. I tried many ways to get the staff audited. As much as I could. I only got arbitraries and stops. Was nuts.

There was a period of a few weeks around 1991(?) when Int Mgmt slipped up and allowed an OT3 co-audit to occur at ITO with the staff. My thought at the time was that the damn RPF do it, so why couldn't we do it? Only a few pairs took advantage of it, but it was enough for me to get the two short sessions I needed to get through the New OT4 I'd been in the middle of for nearly ten years and onto KTL.

Then Snr C/S Int Office got back on the ball and said it was out-tech and stopped it. Can't have staff getting auditing!

Paul

 

[Div6]

Well, I did have a line to the MD's actually. With Dr Denk and Dr Shields. It was difficult to get them on the phone right away, but sometimes I could ask them for advice. They would always call me back and help me. They were pretty helpful with Sea Org members.

I did myself have to see Dr Denk on a number of occasions for emergency reasons and he hardly ever charged me, or if he did, it was very little. Dr Shields always charged full prices (with SO discount).

It is true that an SSO has to be posted or the Paid completions stat is penalized. It does say in the same reference that they have to be actively working on the post (I forget the exact wording, but to the effect of getting staff enhanced with training and processing) in order for the stat to not be penalized. But, if you have an SSO on post, the stat is not penalized. That is the deal.

But the thing is that the staff auditors dont exist. And you cant do a co-audit because the auditors have to be fully trained on the Levels, not a co-audit checksheet (I tried). And if they were trained on the levels, they could just audit each other in regular auditing rooms and not need a co-audit sup. I tried many ways to get the staff audited. As much as I could. I only got arbitraries and stops. Was nuts. I was getting them audited by the Interns. That worked for a while until someone said something out security in session about a celeb and it flapped and no interns or non-SO could audit staff. So then there were only three people in the org to audit staff: Me, myself and I. And i was supping a courseroom 3 periods per day. And had to handle medical of over 200 staff.

It was fucking crazy.

'Scuse the lingo.

One person actually slapped me across the face. She was so upset and angry that I was not getting her in session and getting people up the Bridge.

SSO is a very frustrating post.

I finally gave up and decided to just do nothing. Screw it.

After Natalie Ellis died, my senior kept calling me a murderer and telling me that I was trying to kill the staff with my neglect. That did not make me feel any better.

Plus Natalie was my FRIEND. She withheld the pain she was feeling and the condition she was in until it was TOO late for the medicos to do anything.

Very frustrating area for me, staff medical.

No money. No way to really care for the staff. No insurance. Nothing.

Rambling... sorry

I am truly sorry.

It was much the same in my org....we would use interns as well to audit staff, but usually it was only repair stuff..int, L1c's etc. NO major actions.
I PAID for my auditing as an exec at a Cl V org...and not out of book commissions from "debit" cycles.

I had juniors who busted their asses on a daily basis....I was lucky if I coud get their ruds flown....

You were in an overwhelmiing backlog with no support or logistical help. I understand.

At least you cared.

 

[Alanzo]

There was a period of a few weeks around 1991(?) when Int Mgmt slipped up and allowed an OT3 co-audit to occur at ITO with the staff. My thought at the time was that the damn RPF do it, so why couldn't we do it? Only a few pairs took advantage of it, but it was enough for me to get the two short sessions I needed to get through the New OT4 I'd been in the middle of for nearly ten years and onto KTL.

Then Snr C/S Int Office got back on the ball and said it was out-tech and stopped it. Can't have staff getting auditing!

Paul

I'll bet the real reason for that is similar to the stop that CC put on their staff co-audit. Too many staff talking to too many other staff, getting off withholds, handling "ARC breaks" and problems on post, etc.

Auditing is open communication. And when you are trying to enforce information control, staff auditing can be the point where the pipes leak.

 

[Alanzo]

I am truly sorry.

It was much the same in my org....we would use interns as well to audit staff, but usually it was only repair stuff..int, L1c's etc. NO major actions.
I PAID for my auditing as an exec at a Cl V org...and not out of book commissions from "debit" cycles.

I had juniors who busted their asses on a daily basis....I was lucky if I coud get their ruds flown....

You were in an overwhelmiing backlog with no support or logistical help. I understand.

At least you cared.

Scientology would set up a huge and powerful counter structure to the purpose of your post, and then blame you for not making it go right.

That's why you got slapped, Bea. YOU were the one responsible. At least that's what it was made to look like to all the staff.

 

[Bea Kiddo]

There will be more stories of staff medical posted by me. Slowly but surely I shall post more and more.

 

[nw2394]

Then Snr C/S Int Office got back on the ball and said it was out-tech and stopped it. Can't have staff getting auditing!

Paul

Yuh. Well. Auditing is to be prevented at all costs. Stuff al the level of life repair is kind of tolerable. The inmates are becoming happy. But too much higher than that and they are likely to start becoming rebelious.

That is what is a the core of the problem with some of the antis as well. It is not simply that they cannot see, they are afraid we might actually be right.

Nick