Scientologist's Double Murder Down Under Blamed on Noncompliance

Here is something from the Sydney Herald written by Dylan Welch. I don't want to anger the Scientologists, but it really shows their ignorance and the importance of medication compliance - especially with psychiatric treatment.

SCIENTOLOGISTS were condemned yesterday as "flat-earthers", following statements in court that an alleged murderer was denied psychiatric treatment because of her family's Scientologist beliefs.

The vice-president of the Australian Church of Scientology, Cyrus Brooks, told ABC radio the Scientology link to the killings was "a bit of a red herring".

"The woman was actually under the drugs; she was on drugs at the time of the incident. She was also under the care of a psychiatrist … since January," Mr Brooks said.

"The records show that she was on psychiatric drugs, so to say that it had something to do with us, then I think it's incredibly defamatory and unfair."

A psychiatric report tendered to Bankstown Local Court on Monday said the 25-year-old woman accused of murdering her father and sister in Revesby last Thursday had tried to get help twice last year, but her Scientologist parents had a religious objection to psychiatric intervention.

Mr Brooks said modern psychiatry used many methods that were largely "unproven" and psychiatric assumptions such as chemical imbalances in the brain did not exist.

After Mr Brooks finished his interview, a Sydney University psychiatrist, Chris Tennant, phoned ABC Radio to reject the Scientologist's beliefs.

Professor Tennant said it was "so sad to hear the flat-earthers getting on the radio". He denied modern psychiatry was largely unproven and said the amount of research on mental illness was as strong as that for cancer and heart disease.

"It's a tragedy to hear this mumbo jumbo being proselytised by this group," he said. "The sad thing about this sounds to be that this girl may well have been prescribed some psychiatric treatment but living in a family which had the Scientology attitude there is no way there would have been what we term compliance."

The president of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, said if the woman had had access to appropriate medical treatment, it could have "changed the course of her life".

Media reports yesterday morning said the accused woman's parents had taken her off anti-psychotic medication and instead treated her with non-psychotic medicine imported from the US.

Mr Brooks denied the US medicine had anything to do with Scientology.

He said the church did not give the family any advice on the daughter's situation and had not recommended the US medication she was alleged to have taken.

Mr Brooks said he was not aware of any US medication used for the same purpose.

The woman accused of the double murder is due to appear in court again today.