A Hampden Superior Court judge has cleared the way for doctors to perform an endoscopy on a Hampden County jail inmate without his consent, after he swallowed more than two dozen golf pencils and two round metal objects and then refused medical treatment. Court documents say 16 of those pencils remain lodged in his stomach, small intestine and colon, posing risks of obstruction, perforation or bleeding.
Judge Jeffrey Trapani partially allowed an emergency petition filed on the inmate's behalf, according to MassLive. The order permits the inmate's doctors to perform an endoscopy and any other medical procedures necessary to prevent physical harm or death, even without his agreement. It also allows medical and correctional providers to use reasonable force, if necessary, to monitor and treat him while he remains in their custody. The temporary order expires Friday.
The petition came from medical professionals who said the inmate had repeatedly declined interventions despite the risks involved, the outlet reported. Notably, the order was granted before the inmate's defense attorney, Bernard T. O'Connor Jr., had a chance to present his argument. O'Connor could not be reached for comment at the time of MassLive's reporting.
A Years-Long Pattern Documented in Affidavits
The petition was supported by affidavits from Dr. Thomas Lincoln, medical director of the Sheriff's Office, and Susan Santamaria, the sheriff's nurse manager. Lincoln said the inmate's life was in immediate peril because he had ingested numerous sharp foreign objects and was refusing treatment, the same report states. Santamaria's affidavit traced the inmate's history of ingesting or inserting foreign objects back to at least 2004, noting that his repeated refusals of recommended interventions have complicated the management of these recurring episodes.
The affidavits also describe a criminal history spanning more than 20 years that includes assault, threats of death and bodily harm, and assault and battery. This is not the first time the courts have intervened: temporary restraining orders tied to the inmate's self-harm episodes were requested and allowed in 2012 and again in 2020, according to the same account.
Months of Escalating Incidents
The months preceding the October incident paint a troubling picture. On June 11, the inmate swallowed coins during a courthouse visit and was hospitalized at Baystate Medical Center for 11 days. Two days after returning to the Hampden County Correctional Center, he swallowed pieces of floor tile and was hospitalized again, this time until July 7, after refusing medical procedures to retrieve the swallowed objects.
He also inserted pieces of floor tile into his urethra, though he later consented to an operation to remove them. Medical staff inserted a Foley catheter to help drain his bladder, which he then removed and reinserted with pieces of a rubber flip-flop attached to the end, requiring another cystoscopy after he was readmitted to the hospital.
Battery Ingestion and a Mental Health Evaluation
In August, the inmate swallowed three batteries and inserted more floor tile pieces into his urethra, according to Santamaria's affidavit cited by the outlet. He declined both urologic intervention and a gastrointestinal endoscopy offered at that time to retrieve the batteries. On Aug. 12, he was taken to Bridgewater State Hospital for a mental health evaluation and was discharged on Sept. 1.
That same day, he reported inserting two full-sized pens into his urethra after returning to the correctional center. He also inserted foil from a hospital juice container into his urethra. Per the affidavit, he allegedly declined treatment at one point citing religious beliefs, then offered to agree to treatment in exchange for a phone call with his wife.
The October Incident That Triggered the Petition
On Oct. 3, the inmate swallowed more than two dozen golf pencils along with two round metal objects, resulting in hospitalization. He repeatedly declined recommended procedures or interventions afterward. The episode brought agitation, head banging, threats of self-injury, the use of restraints and a deployment of pepper spray, with medical staff administering dilaudid and oxycodone following the incident.
The affidavit describes a pattern in which the inmate repeatedly experiences episodes of ingesting or inserting objects that require emergency evaluation and treatment, and his repeated refusals have complicated how those episodes are managed. It remains unclear whether the court-ordered endoscopy or any other procedure has since been carried out.
Legal scholars have long grappled with how far courts can go in compelling medical treatment for people in custody. A 2008 article in the Journal of Ethics, published by the American Medical Association, noted that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a prison hearing policy for involuntary medication in the case Washington v. Harper, finding it complied with constitutional mandates — though that case concerned forced medication rather than a surgical or endoscopic procedure.
Anyone experiencing a mental health crisis can call or text 988 to reach the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
