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Report: N.M. Traffic Stop Turns Into Forced Enemas, Colonoscopy

(Wikimedia Commons)
(Wikimedia Commons)

The New Mexico TV station KOB-TV Channel 4 reports that a man who was pulled over for failing to make a full stop at a stop sign was brought to a hospital and forcibly subjected to repeated anal probes, three enemas and ultimately a colonoscopy.

A drug-sniffing dog indicated a possible odor of drugs on the car seat, and a police officer thought the man, David Eckert, was "clenching his buttocks" when he got out of the car, and wanted his anal cavity searched for drugs, KOB-TV reports. At a nearby emergency room, a doctor refused to do the search, calling it unethical; Eckert was brought to another hospital, where doctors apparently raised no such objections.

From the KOB-4 report, which you can read in full here:

1. Eckert's abdominal area was x-rayed; no narcotics were found.

2. Doctors then performed an exam of Eckert's anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.

3. Doctors performed a second exam of Eckert's anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.

4. Doctors penetrated Eckert's anus to insert an enema.  Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers.  Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool.  No narcotics were found.

5. Doctors penetrated Eckert's anus to insert an enema a second time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers.  Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.

6. Doctors penetrated Eckert's anus to insert an enema a third time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers.  Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.

7. Doctors then x-rayed Eckert again; no narcotics were found.

8. Doctors prepared Eckert for surgery, sedated him, and then performed a colonoscopy where a scope with a camera was inserted into Eckert's anus, rectum, colon, and large intestines.  No narcotics were found.

Throughout this ordeal, Eckert protested and never gave doctors at the Gila Regional Medical Center consent to perform any of these medical procedures.

Eckert is now suing the city of Deming, NM, where the traffic stop occurred; the officers involved; the hospital, Gila Regional Medical Center, and the doctors. KOB-4 includes the legal documents in its post.

There's nothing at all funny about this, but here's the punchline from the report by KOB-TV's Chris Ramirez: "The Gila Regional Medical Center billed Eckert for those procedures, and is even threatening to take him to collections if he doesn't pay."

(Hat-tip to David Holzman, who read about the case on thetruthaboutcars.com, which cited The Blaze.)

This program aired on November 6, 2013. The audio for this program is not available.

Headshot of Carey Goldberg

Carey Goldberg Editor, CommonHealth
Carey Goldberg is the editor of WBUR's CommonHealth section.

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