When Lisa McPherson left Morton Plant Hospital with her fellow Scientologists, she crossed a line between worlds that differ sharply on how mental illness should be treated. The unusually long investigation began the day after McPherson died, Dec. 5, 1995. In contrast, doctors at Morton Plant would have placed McPherson in the care of psychiatrists if her psychotic behavior had continued theway it did in front of her fellow Scientologists. McPherson would have entered a system governed by the Florida Mental Health Act. Under the state system, the psychotic person is viewed more as a victim of mental illness, often caused by chemical imbalance.
State law grants similar authority to hospital administrators.
No one at the Fort Harrison called McPherson's mother, who is not a Scientologist. A licensed mental health facility in Florida would have been required to alert her mother within 24 hours. Such a facility also would have been subject to state inspections and state standards for care. That was not the case at the Fort Harrison, where McPherson's caregivers made do in a hotel environment. The Fort Harrison has no provision for intravenous feedings.