How a small-time drug bust ignited a feud between police and a Catholic hospital

Convinced a suspect was hiding evidence, police in Ohio ordered doctors at Mercy Health-Lorain Hospital to search his body cavity. The doctors refused.

The standoff started with a drug stakeout.

Last August, police in Lorain, Ohio, arrested a man they suspected of hiding a baggie of drugs in his butt. He denied it, but police were certain, so they took him to a local hospital for a body cavity search.

The case then swerved into unusual territory: The man would not agree to the procedure, so the police got a judge to order it. The doctors refused, saying it was dangerous and unethical — and later added that it violated the hospital’s Catholic principles.

The police pushed back. The doctors didn’t budge. The dispute spiraled.

The hospital now faces criminal charges and has been forced to dismantle its in-house police force. It has sued authorities, alleging retaliation and discrimination. And the man who was held at the hospital while the two sides fought over his bowel movements says he was humiliated and violated by the experience.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/drug-bust-feud-lorain-ohio-police-catholic-hospital-rcna186906

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