LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Former ``Star Trek” actress Nichelle Nichols has ``moderate, progressive dementia,” her physician states in new court papers.
Dr. Meena Makhijani, a Woodland Hills geriatrician, reveals in documents filed Aug. 8 in Los Angeles Superior Court that Nichols lacks the mental capacity to consent to any form of medical treatment and that the actress had been prescribed 12.5 milligrams of a dementia medication daily ``as needed for agitation.”
Nichols has been under the doctor's care for two to three years and was last seen by the physician on June 20, according to Makhijani.
On May 14, Judge Barbara Johnson named four individuals to serve as temporary conservators of Nichols. The judge said she granted the petition brought by Nichols' son, Kyle Johnson, even though she was concerned about the potential cost of the conservatorship to the Nichols estate and the lack at the time of a doctor's confirmation of the actress' medical condition.
Nichols played Lt. Uhura, a translator and communications officer, aboard the USS Enterprise in the ``Star Trek” series that ran on NBC from 1966- 69, and also appeared in some of the ``Star Trek” movies.
The temporary conservators -- Norine Boehmer, Dawn Mills, Susan Ghormley and Leandra McCormick -- are ``professional fiduciaries” whose full- time job is to take care of the money or other assets of another person. They filed Makhijani's medical findings with the court.
Johnson's attorney, Jeffrey Marvan, told the judge during the May hearing that he was concerned that Nichols' manager had recently deeded one of two properties Nichols owns to himself. Marvan also said he is uncertain what has happened to funds Nichols has earned from appearing at ``Star Trek” conventions, which he said in 2015 amounted to $259,000.
Marvan and Nichols' court-appointed lawyer, Jeffrey Shuwarger, said the actress has consented to the conservatorship.
Yevgeny Belous, an attorney for the four conservators, said Nichols owns two properties collectively worth about $2 million.
A hearing on whether to impose a permanent conservatorship on Nichols is scheduled for Thursday.
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