Nathaniel Ayers and the Issue of Forced Medication

Nathaniel Ayers is the brilliant, mentally ill musician who was living on the streets in L.A. for many years. L.A. Times columnist Steve Lopez has been writing about him for years, including in his book The Soloist, which was turned into a movie starring Jamie Foxx as Ayers. For Ayers, there was a once promising career as a classical musician, then came a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, then electro-shock therapy. He eventually ended up on Skid Row, and now there’s a new development in Ayers’ story.