Now that Nicholas Alahverdian has been extradited from the UK back to the US, how long does the legal system have to continue to humor his claims that he needs a wheelchair and oxygen? This guy is a sex offender and scammer and faked his death in 2020, then fled to Scotland. He’s accused of rape in Utah and is now being held in jail there. He’s very uncooperative, refuses to appear in court, and continues to claim that he is a Scottish orphan named Arthur Knight.
I’m just really interested to know how long he can continue to play games with the oxygen and wheelchair. If doctors verify that he does not need them, can they be taken away? How long would it take for this decision to be made - I’m assuming it would have to go through the courts, or would a doctor be able to order their removal?
I am not familiar with this particular case and I’m still a bit unclear on what’s going on so the following is just a general response.
It is possible he needs oxygen, a wheelchair, or both. Being an unsavory human being does not rule out medical problems or being disabled.
In the US the judicial system, including jails and prisons, are required to provide necessary medical care to all inmates, but no more. If a doctor examines him and determines he doesn’t need one or both of the items he’s claiming he does then yes, they can be taken away. If, however, he does need them then the prison system is obliged to provide them.
Paging our former prison doctor @Qadgop_the_Mercotan to see if he can provide anything more in the way of details.
It’s my understanding that he does not need them. I definitely want any jailed or imprisoned person to have the medical care they need, 100%. But for a person who is determined to be faking it, I’m wondering how long they have to humor that, or do they just continue to allow him to have it? It’s my understanding that the wheelchair and oxygen are part of his scam.
He seems to be very devoted to keeping up the sham that he is from Scotland and has a lot of physical ailments, so I wonder what he would do if they took the oxygen and wheelchair away.
A prison doctor testified Wednesday that the man believed to be Nicholas Alahverdian has no medical reason to use a wheelchair and that his oxygen levels are normal.
This was at an extradition hearing in Scotland back in June 2023.
I’ve often had patients who claimed to need things only to find evidence that they did not, and that includes oxygen, wheelchairs, canes, braces, sunglasses, and lots more.
In those situations, we make sure to take a good medical history (including obtaining past medical records at need), appropriate physical examination and various lab studies and tests (all with patient consent of course). We can also get information on how well the patient functions on his unit from the staff there. We don’t violate HIPAA, we just inquire as to whether the patient has difficulty functioning on his unit with ADLs, etc.
We may need to do serial monitoring of the patient, and in the case of claims of needing oxygen, we will check oxygen levels on the patient before, during, and after exertion, and even during sleep, to see if the levels become abnormally low. If we find no need for the oxygen or other special accommodations, they are discontinued.
If the patient refuses evaluation for his desired special items, said items are withdrawn. Of course if the need is obvious despite refusal, the patient would keep them.
That’s pretty much the standard of care for inmates in the US, per the National Conference on Correctional Health Care.
Now, that sounds simple on its surface, but depending on the complaint and situation, the reality of the patient’s claimed ‘need’ can often be quite challenging to determine.
I don’t disbelieve you when you say he doesn’t really need oxygen or a wheelchair but that problem seems minor to me compared to the guy’s other issues. It’s probably quite expensive but, the the grand scheme, is it really?
I don’t want to see him “get away with something” any more than you do but I’m tempted to pick my battles in this case
Well, I’m not really the one claiming he does or doesn’t need the medical items, but if he doesn’t need them, it does seem like he is using them to cause behavioral issues and avoid just dealing with his legal issues. It sounds like he takes things to extremes. The UK system is probably glad to have him out of their hair, but I’m not sure our US system is equipped to deal with him, either.
This is a guy who pretended to have non-Hodgkin lymphoma, pretended he died, and ran off to Scotland to avoid charges.
Then in the UK he claimed the hospital staff tattooed him while he was in a COVID coma with tattoos matching those of Nicholas Alahverdian (his real identity) to frame him.
I believe the medical term for being a fake is called “malingering”. Doctors can make that diagnosis and then respond as appropriate.
As far as the court is concerned? In my experience, judges take the position that the department of corrections handles prisoners (or the local law enforcement agency handles jails), and the court has no say in their treatment of their inmates.
If the prisoner/jail approves you for medical treatment, you’ll get it, but a judge isn’t going to order it. And they aren’t going to do the opposite, and override a determination of medical need.
He arrived back in the US on Jan. 5th. If he says he needs a wheel chair and oxygen, and he has a history of using them, he’ll have to be examined by a doctor here in the US to determine if needs them. He’s in Utah now and appeared in a virtual hearing on the 17th. He has been refusing to participate in another virtual hearing and the judge has ordered reasonable force be used to make him attend another one scheduled for March 8th.
The wheels of justice turn slowly but grind exceedingly fine. There will be procedures to make sure he has the medical care he needs, which I’m sure is none, and then he’ll do everything he can to delay being sentenced to prison for a very long time.
Heck, they sometimes bring in accused people forcibly tied in a wheelchair, when they won’t walk on their own.
Nearly all Courthouses in the US can accommodate people in wheelchairs/ Even lawyers and Judges in wheelchairs.