0001 1 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT FOR THE STATE OF ALASKA 2 THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT AT ANCHORAGE 3 In the Matter of the Necessity 4 for the Hospitalization of: 5 Roslyn Wetherhorn, Case No. 3AN-05-459 PR 6 Respondent. _______________________________/ 7 8 TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS 9 BEFORE THE HONORABLE JOHN E DUGGAN 10 Anchorage, Alaska 11 April 15, 2005 12 APPEARANCES: 13 FOR THE STATE OF ALASKA: 14 Holly Schaffter Chari Assistant Attorney General 15 1031 West 4th Avenue, Suite 200 Anchorage, Alaska 99501 16 FOR ROSLYN WETHERHORN: 17 Elizabeth Brennan Public Defender Agency 18 900 West 5th Avenue, Suite 200 Anchorage, Alaska 99501 19 Roslyn Wetherhorn (Respondent) 20 21 22 23 24 25 0002 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 3AN-2605-049 3 2105 4 THE CLERK: Your Honor -- 5 THE COURT: Oh, thank you. We're on the record. 6 This is the matter of Roslyn Wetherhorn, and the case 7 number is 05-459. Ms. Wetherhorn is present in court. 8 Welcome to court. She is represented by Ms. Brennan. Ms. 9 Chari is here on behalf of the hospital. Dr. Kiele is 10 present to testify, a psychiatrist from the hospital. I, 11 of course, am Master Duggan. (Words indiscernible -- 12 simultaneous speech) our court reporter today. And -- 13 MS. WETHERHORN: He was on active discharge. I 14 remember him (words indiscernible -- speaking low). 15 (Multiple speakers -- indiscernible.) 16 THE COURT: Dr. Kiele has previously been sworn, so 17 just a reminder that he is still under oath. And also, 18 he's been qualified as an expert in the field of 19 psychiatry. And Ms. Chari, questions for the doctor 20 concerning petition, please. 21 MS. CHARI: Yes, Your Honor. 22 JAN KIELE 23 testified as follows on: 24 DIRECT EXAMINATION 25 BY MS. CHARI: 0003 1 Q Doctor, how are you familiar with the patient? 2 A I have been working with her on the Susitna Unit. 3 MS. WETHERHORN: No, you haven't. 4 Q Okay. And doctor, what were the patient's 5 presenting problems and history upon her admission? 6 A Well, she was -- basically she was admitted by Dr. 7 Kean. She -- although I was on call when the community 8 folks first called to seek admission for her. 9 Basically..... 10 MS. WETHERHORN: Don't tell me what to do. 11 A .....she was having a lot of difficulty in the 12 Palmer area. She had apparently stated that she had 13 bought a church there. She went to -- she stated that, as 14 I understood it, the owner of the Carrs Store was going to 15 transport her down to -- for the Pope's funeral, and those 16 kinds of things. Basically, she was have lots of 17 difficulty with insight and judgment and was having some 18 difficulties in the community at that time. And once she 19 was admitted to the hospital, then I began to work with 20 her, once she reached the Susitna Unit. 21 Q Doctor, what is the patient's current diagnosis? 22 A Bipolar I disorder, most recent episode manic. 23 That's the primary diagnosis. 24 Q Doctor, when you say primary diagnosis, is there a-- 25 A Yes. She has history, also, of cannabis abuse and 0004 1 alcohol abuse. 2 MS. WETHERHORN: And I'm in treatment now. 3 Q Doctor, in your opinion, is the patient greatly 4 disabled? 5 A Yes, she is. 6 Q And what is the basis of your opinion? 7 A Well, she's had lots of episodes of agitation and 8 has actually struck people at various times during her 9 hospital stay. Basically, in my interactions with her, 10 staff reports I receive, and direct observations that I 11 have from time to time, it's clear that she has been 12 alternately confused and agitated. She's had -- at times 13 she's had considerable difficulty sleeping. 14 Q Doctor, you also stated that upon her admissible 15 that she was having difficulty with assessment and 16 insight. Has that changed since she's been here at the 17 hospital? 18 A No, it hasn't. 19 Q Doctor, in your opinion, do you believe that 20 treatment will benefit the patient? 21 A I do. 22 Q Doctor, I'm sorry. I'll have to back up a bit. In 23 your opinion, do you believe that this patient presents a 24 substantial risk of harm to herself or others? 25 A Well, as I mentioned..... 0005 1 MS. WETHERHORN: Yes. 2 A .....she has struck people from time to time, even 3 here in the hospital. 4 MS. WETHERHORN: (Words indiscernible -- 5 simultaneous speech.) 6 A There is a direct risk of harm to others and more of 7 an indirect risk of harm to herself. 8 Q Doctor, how -- how do you wish this treatment 9 (indiscernible) as far as medication (indiscernible)? 10 MS. WETHERHORN: I have Dr. Wolf, not him. 11 A Well, at this time, we have her on a combination of 12 drugs. 13 MS. WETHERHORN: I don't like his drugs. 14 A A combination of medications, and it seems quite 15 clear that she's going to require a combination of 16 medications in order to treat her illness. 17 MS. WETHERHORN: I have Dr. Wolf. I have 18 (indiscernible -- mumbling). 19 A This is consistent with her history, in that the 20 last time she was hospitalized at this facility, as I went 21 over the record, it appeared that she'd been in the 22 hospital for about six weeks at that time and did require 23 a combination of medications, at that time, as well. 24 Q Doctor, have you had an opportunity to talk to the 25 patient about medications? 0006 1 A Yes, I -- 2 MS. WETHERHORN: No, you didn't. 3 A I have met with her and..... 4 MS. WETHERHORN: You did not meet with me. 5 A And she has taken medications a number of times, but 6 we've had so many episodes where she has required 7 emergency medications, I felt that in protection of her 8 rights that it would be best to request that that petition 9 be heard today. 10 Q Doctor, has the patient refused medication? 11 A Sometimes. Many of the times she does take the 12 medications and sometimes has requested medication. It's 13 been inconsistent (words indiscernible). 14 Q Do you know (words indiscernible -- speaking low) if 15 the patient was -- had consented to medications? 16 A I think in the last day or so she has pretty much 17 taken them. Again, there have been enough episodes, even 18 with that, of her requiring emergency medication because 19 of agitation and assaultiveness again, that that was -- 20 sort of an ethical/legal concern, in my mind. 21 Q And separately, is the emergency medication 22 different than the medication that you're are prescribing 23 her generally? 24 MS. WETHERHORN: Yes. 25 A Sometimes. 0007 1 MS. WETHERHORN: All times. 2 A Again, she has needed a variety of medications. 3 MS. WETHERHORN: Excuse, me. I'd like to talk. 4 Q Doctor, in your opinion..... 5 MS. WETHERHORN: I want to talk now. 6 Q .....do you believe that the patient -- 7 THE COURT: Ms. -- Ms. Wetherhonr, we record the 8 (words indiscernible -- speaking low) ..... can only 9 record one person's testimony at a time. So -- 10 MS. WETHERHORN: Well, he's lying. 11 THE COURT: Well, he'll finish, and then you'll have 12 a chance to respond, but you can't interrupt, please. 13 Q Doctor, in your opinion, does the patient possess 14 the capacity to give or withhold her informed consent to 15 medication? 16 A No, not -- not in a full degree. I think that her 17 capacity to comprehend the issue of medications is very 18 limited. 19 Q Doctor, in your opinion, is there any less 20 restrictive alternative placement for the patient at this 21 time, other than the hospital? 22 A No, not at this time. 23 MS. WETHERHORN: I have to go to the bathroom. 24 Q I have no further questions. 25 JAN KIELE 0008 1 testified as follows on: 2 CROSS EXAMINATION 3 BY MS. BRENNAN: 4 Q Dr. Kiele, have you talked to Dr. Wolf about Ms. 5 Wetherhorn? 6 A I -- 7 MS. WETHERHORN: No, he hasn't. 8 A I have not since she's been here in the hospital. 9 I'm trying to remember if that was the physician I spoke 10 with on the night that she was (words indiscernible -- 11 simultaneous speech). 12 MS. WETHERHORN: But I'm getting married today 13 (words indiscernible -- simultaneous speech). 14 Q Do you know the medication that Dr. Wolf had 15 prescribed? 16 A I don't know (words indiscernible -- speaking low). 17 MS. WETHERHORN: He never gave me any (words 18 indiscernible -- speaking low). 19 Q How much time have you spent with Ms. Wetherhorn 20 about medications? 21 MS. WETHERHORN: None. 22 A I'm not sure that I could really quantify that. 23 I've had some formal interactions and some informal 24 interactions. 25 MS. WETHERHORN: He never talked to me since I've 0009 1 been here. 2 Q And have you discussed the different side effects of 3 the medications? 4 A She's not been in any condition where we could 5 really discuss those. As I indicated, she has basically 6 been either very agitated, or -- or sleeping. And 7 unfortunately it's been that kind of experience. 8 Q Does Ms. Wetherhorn have any (words indiscernible -- 9 speaking low) know about? 10 A Oh, she certainly does. You know, she -- she's an 11 individual who apparently responded adequately to 12 treatment and was able to stay out of the hospital for 13 some years. You know, she -- 14 MS. WETHERHORN: Right. 15 A She has indicated that she is a spiritual person and 16 has concerns about that aspect of life. 17 MS. WETHERHORN: I'm a Jew. 18 A She has mentioned to me that she is both Jewish and 19 Catholic. 20 MS. WETHERHORN: I am. I'm every religion. 21 (Multiple voices -- words indiscernible -- away from 22 microphone.) 23 THE COURT: Ms. Brennan, does Ms. Wetherhorn want to 24 stay at API? 25 MS. BRENNAN: Ms. Wetherhorn, do you want to stay 0010 1 here at API? 2 MS. WETHERHORN: Yes, I'd like to say a lot of 3 things. First of all, (words indiscernible -- mumbling). 4 THE COURT: Ms. Wetherhorn, the decision we make 5 today is whether it's appropriate for you to stay at the 6 hospital. And I think your attorney asked you whether you 7 thought you should stay at API. 8 MS. WETHERHORN: (Word indiscernible) until I get 9 well, until I'm stabler than I am now. 10 Q And what about medication? How do you feel about 11 the medication that Dr. Kiele wants (words indiscernible - 12 - speaking low)? 13 A I like it. (Words indiscernible -- mumbling). I 14 want to talk to (word indiscernible) right now. Where's 15 the cell phone? 16 THE COURT: Any other questions, Ms. Chari? 17 MS. CHARI: No, Your Honor. 18 MS. WETHERHORN: (Words indiscernible -- mumbling). 19 THE COURT: Anything else, Ms. Chari (word 20 indiscernible)? 21 MS. CHARI: No, Your Honor. 22 THE COURT: Ms. Brennan? 23 MS. BRENNAN: No, Your Honor. Ms. Wetherhorn feels 24 that she's stable and (words indiscernible -- speaking 25 low). It sounds like she has a good relationship with Dr. 0011 1 Wolf (words indiscernible -- speaking low). 2 THE COURT: Thank you. 3 MS. WETHERHORN: (Words indiscernible -- mumbling). 4 THE COURT: Ms. Wetherhorn, the decision the court 5 would make today is that we find that from the evidence 6 that it is appropriate for you to be at the hospital and 7 to stay here for a time. And the court is going to 8 authorize that, and also authorize the doctor to prescribe 9 medicine for you. And of course he will consult with Dr. 10 Wolf about what the appropriate medicine should be. And 11 the doctor here has the authority to make a medication 12 decision and if -- the doctor also has the authority to 13 discharge you from the hospital, without coming back to 14 court. So, hopefully, that will happen soon and we'll 15 recess our hearing. We'll excuse Ms. Wetherhorn to go 16 back downstairs. And thank you, Ms. Wetherhorn. 17 2737 18 OFF RECORD 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 0012 1 TRANSCRIBER'S CERTIFICATE 2 I, Joanne Kearse, hereby certify that the foregoing 3 pages numbered 1 through 11 are a true, accurate, and 4 complete transcript of the hearing held on April 15, 2005, 5 In the Matter of the Necessity for the Hospitalization of 6 Roslyn Wetherhorn, Case No. 3AN-05-459 PR, transcribed by 7 me from a copy of the electronic sound recording to the 8 best of my knowledge and ability. 9 Dated this 2nd day of June, 2005. 10 11 12 JOANNE KEARSE 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25