Elizabeth Daily Journal - "Charges to be amplified"

Elizabeth Daily Journal

Dianetics Charges To Be Amplified

March 28, 1951

The State Board of Medical Examiners, which has filed a District Court suit against the Hubbard Dianetics Research Foundation, 275 Morris Avenue, yesterday promised to give the foundation more specific details in its charge that the Elizabeth organization is conducting a medical school contrary to the law. The trial date is set for May 15.

The case came before District Court Judge Milton A. Feller on a motion by George Meier, of Bloomfield, attorney for the Hubbard Foundation. Under court rules, the defendant has the right to serve questions on the plaintiff asking for a more complete explanation of the charge. Mr. Meier said that the state's answers to his inquiries were not specific enough as to the charge. He contended that definite charges must be conveyed for a conviction.

Deputy Attorney General Henry F. Schenk, representing the State in the matter, said the charge alleges that the Hubbard Foundation teaches psychiatry and that it was sufficiently outlined. He promised a fuller statement, however.

Mr. Meier indicated the defense would be based on the fact that the foundation cannot fall under the definition of a medical school as it uses no medication, drugs nor physical manipulation. This, he claims, places it in the same position as such an organization as Christian Science, which is permitted by law to practice its doctrine. He also denied the group teaches psychiatry.

The Bloomfield lawyer added that such organizations as Rutgers University and Merck and Company have been conducting research in their laboratories for many years without a license or any charter from the State Board of Medical Examiners. Dianetic research, he maintained, is no different than that conducted by the other two groups.