A doctor in Bremen, Germany, is on trial for negligent manslaughter in the death in 2004 of a suspected drug dealer in police custody. The suspect was forcibly given an emetic to retrieve cocaine capsules he had allegedly swallowed.

The man’s vomit entered his lungs, resulting in oxygen deficiency, while the doctor was present.

The procedure has subsequently been declared unlawful by the European Court of Human Rights, which in 2006 said it was a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human …