By Amy Nelson
Two men accused drilling a hole in a woman’s head pleaded not guilty in a preliminary hearing this morning and now await trial, according to Court officials.
Peter E. Halvorson and William E. Lyons, both of Beryl, Iron County, refuted charges of practicing medicine without a license in the Fifth District Court in Cedar City. Peter Halvorson, a jeweler by trade, is a strong advocate of trepanation, a procedure that involves drilling a hole in the skull to increase blood volume in the head.
Halvorson and Lyons performed the surgery January 22 on a 29-year-old woman, Heather Evelyn Perry, for ABC’s “20/20.” The video shows the woman injecting herself with an anesthetic, after which Halvorson and Lyons made an incision in her shaved head, spread the skin, and used a metal instrument to drill a hole in the top of her skull.
Halvorson himself has a hole in his skull, and even has a Web site advocating trepanation and giving visitors tips on how to request trepanation from doctors. Halvorson believes that trepanation increases mental ability and can be used to treat depression.
