A man has claimed before the High Court that he was wrongly detained in a psychiatric hospital some 20 years ago and, when leaving there after three months, was put on inappropriate medication. He claims he should never have been in the hospital.
John Manweiler (64), Rosemount Court, Dundrum, Dublin, is suing the Eastern Health Board over his alleged unlawful detention in St Brendan's Hospital, Grangegorman, from September until December 1984 and for a time in November 1991. It is also claimed he was forced to take a drug named clopixol when discharged from hospital, which he did not want to take.
Mr Manweiler is claiming damages for alleged personal injury, loss and damage sustained by him arising out of the negligence and breach of duty of the EHB; for trespass to his person, assault, battery, false imprisonment, and for breach of his constitutional rights. The Eastern Health Board denies the claims.
Opening the case yesterday before Mr Justice Éamon de Valera and a jury, John Rogers SC, with Pádraic Dwyer, for Mr Manweiler, said his client was living at home with his parents in 1984. He had been made redundant from his job as an assembler.
In May 1984, Mr Manweiler's father died. He became upset about his father's will and felt he was not told enough about it. His mother was aged 83. In September, he was sorting tools and asked his mother about missing tools. She said she knew nothing about them. He raised his voice and she started to cry and left the house to go to his sister, Pauline.
Pauline and a brother, Colm, arrived and told the plaintiff he had to go to St Brendan's Hospital and that if he did not, he would be committed there. The plaintiff was driven to the hospital but did not want to be admitted.
Mr Rogers said Mr Manweiler ended up being in hospital until December 14th, 1984. He received no medication other than a sleeping tablet while in hospital.
In December, a doctor noted that he was to get clopixol. That was a psychotic drug but the plaintiff contended he was not psychotic. The following month he was administered clopixol, to which he had a reaction and he was given another drug to counteract it.
Mr Rogers said Mr Manweiler's case was that he should never have been in the hospital. There was no legal authority for his being there and the way he was treated. There were no forms of application for voluntary reception or involuntary reception. He was never a voluntary or involuntary patient.
Mr Rogers said Mr Manweiler was on clopixol for years. He was transferred to a clinic on Baggot Street for treatment but in November 1991 he was readmitted to St Brendan's, where he remained for nearly a month.
In 1993, he moved to a clinic on Cork Street. Things began to change and in October 1994 he was told he was to be taken off clopixol. Medical notes of a consultant stated that Mr Manweiler "has never been psychotic".
The hearing is expected to last up to two weeks.