Articles Posted in Doctor, Doctor

So 12 years ago, a woman saw a man acting suspiciously in the Vanderbuilt Hospital parking lot. Said Kristi Wilson, “He looked like he had a wig. It was just really bizarre.” The man was Dr. Ray Mettetal. As reported by NewsChannel5.com,

he was wearing a wig and a fake beard, and he had fake ID, a giant syringe, and was stalking another doctor, his former boss at Vanderbilt. Later, investigators discovered he had a stockpile of the deadly poison, ricin.

Dr. Mettetal was convicted of having ricin and fake IDs, and served 7 years in prison. His medical license was suspended. He was released from prison when an appeals court determined that the search warrant used by the police was no good. So now Dr. Mettetal wants his license back. What do you think the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners decided?

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Adam Scioli, then an anesthesiology resident at Temple University, sold the date rape drug Ketamine to an undercover detective. Think about the lives that could have been ruined with that drug? Scioli should have lost the ability to ever practice medicine, and received a hefty jail sentence. Nope. He pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, obtaining the controlled substance fraudulently (from the hospital pharmacy), and violating the Controlled Substances Act. His sentence? Two months in jail! Cocaine gets you 5 years. This guy gets 2 months! Oh, and Pennsylvania suspended his medical license because of his felony conviction for violating the Controlled Substances Act.

So Scioli is done with medicine, right? Wrong. On July 1, 2007, the Delaware Psychiatric Center took him on as a resident despite the fact that his medical license in Pennsylvania is still suspended. And what does the Director of the Center have to say about this brilliant hire? Don’t know. She didn’t return a reporter’s numerous calls and e-mails. I’m guessing Scioli will be looking for a new job soon. You can read more here.

At least one of them, anyway. The allegations against Ohio Dr. Somnath Roy are as follows:

During the interview, Dr. Roy insisted on examining her breast and then fondled her. He also asked her to pull her pants down. (as reported by Brad Dicken of The Chronicle-Telegram).

Another woman said that, on her first day, Dr. Roy fondled her while demonstrating a breast exam that he said she would be assisting with as part of her duties. He also told her that she had small breasts and asked if that ran in her family. On her second (and final) day, he told her that she needed to wear a padded bra so she would “look bigger.”

Both of the above women have filed lawsuits against Dr. Roy. Here are a couple other allegations against the doctor:

A 47-year-old Elyria man said Dr. Roy rubbed his genitals on his knee and thigh during examinations about six times over the course of the eight years he was Roy’s patient.

A couple said that Roy had asked them explicit questions about their sex life that had nothing to do with the reason they were seeing him.

Earlier this month, the North Carolina Legislature honored Dr. Bob Crummie as “doctor of the day.” In addition to some interesting “deep thoughts” (see below), Dr. Bob has had a few run-ins with the law:

In 1997, he was convicted of driving while intoxicated. (Okay, that was a while ago.)

In March 2006, he was charged with driving while intoxicated. He had an open bottle of wine in his coat pocket. (Big-ass pockets, or one of those wine-o miniatures?)

In 2007, he was charged with another driving while intoxicated.

As for Dr. Bob’s “deep thoughts,”

many of them are contained in his book “Dr. Bob’s Grocery Store Medicine and Healthy Life Anecdotes,” which he handed out, for free!, to the North Carolina Legislators. Here are a few tidbits:

“There is no such thing as a homosexual. The Gay Movement is a hoax. Individuals who act out homosexually are at best very neurotic and at worst psychotic. Most of them are character disorders.”

In what he describes as “one of my funniest stories,” Crummie tells how he once put a stop to homosexuality at an N.C. prison when, as superintendent, he threatened to give electric shock therapy to anyone caught in the act. With several inmates present, he demonstrated the procedure on one inmate who was severely depressed.
“We don’t hear about the successful lobotomies.”

“Schizophrenia is linked to rejection by one’s mother.”

Certainly everyone is entitled to their opinions. But I’m guessing Dr. Bob will be losing a few patients, and, sadly, probably gaining a few new ones. He’s got bigger worries, though, since the North Carolina Medical Board has charged him with unprofessional conduct. The hearing is on August 15.

Dr. Byron Timberlake, an otolaryngologist in Front Royal, Viriginia, was found to have sexually molested 6 young male patients. His sentence – PROBATION. Oh, and he couldn’t see patients under 18. A few year later, his probation was lifted, as were the restrictions on his license. He’s been practicing in Virginia ever since. Regarding the sexual assaults, to read the “findings of fact and conclusions of law” in awful detail, click here. To view Dr. Timberlake’s profile on the Virginia Board of Medicine web site, click here. Where was the justice for these boys?

This is insane. It all started on May 25, 2003 in New Zealand when a cat named Lui started licking his balls – really. This led his owner to take him to the vet, where things went from bad to worse, ending with Lui dying 11 days later. Litigation involving Lui’s care has been going on for 4 YEARS! And the end could be more than a year away! Thank you, Kiwis, for today’s Juice.

While reviewing some doctor disciplinary cases, I came across this incredible story. In 1976, Illinois pharmacist Gerald Barnbaum had his license revoked for Medicaid fraud. He moved to California, and legally changed his name to Gerald Barnes, a prominent doctor whose name he found in a medical directory. Then he wrote the California Medical Board and got a copy of the real Dr. Barnes’ medical license, and wrote his medical school and got a copy of his medical school diploma.

For the next 20 years, he was Dr. Gerald Barnes, despite getting caught many times. (Per the San Francisco Chronicle, “he was sent to prison five times, convicted of illegally practicing medicine, mail fraud, grand theft, even involuntary manslaughter, but each time after being paroled, he resumed his sham.”)

So where is Dr. Barnes now? He’s in prison in Illinois, where he’ll probably remain for the rest of his life. To read more about this incredible con, click here.

Dr. Nilon Tallant was incredibly thrilled to be honored as the Texas “Doctor of the Day” on January 12, 2007. He correctly assumed that the Texas House of Representatives did not know that he is a CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER who had his license revoked (by the Texas Medical Board!) for 4 years. Said Lt. Gutierrez, who investigated Dr. Tallant’s crime, and described him as extremely exploitative and abusive:

I can’t believe that the Medical Board let him practice again. Why didn’t they talk to us before making that decision?

And what was his crime? Dr. Tallant, then 64, was charged with 19 counts of sexual performance with a child, a 17-year-old PATIENT. He pleaded guilty to a felony and got probation. PROBATION!

Too quick, said the United Kingdom’s General Medical Council disciplinary panel, of Dr. Russell Reid, the UK’s top expert on transsexualism. The panel concluded that Dr. Reid’s treatment of patients B,C,D, E and F was inappropriate, not in their best interests, and in breach of international guidelines on the treatment of transsexuals. Here are the panels conclusions:

Dr Reid was found to have prescribed hormones to Patient B despite lacking any evidence to corroborate that she was transsexual. She told the inquiry she was severely depressed and felt trapped in gender limbo.

The gender psychiatrist was found to have given Patient C, a convicted paedophile, hormones and referred him for surgery too quickly and without evidence that he was truly transsexual. Patient C – a male-to-female transsexual who has reverted to living as a man – told the inquiry that he wanted his sex change reversed.

Dr Reid was found to have prescribed Patient D male hormones against the advice in a second opinion provided by another psychiatrist. The patient, who wanted to change sex in order to fulfil a delusion that she was turning into Jesus, only avoided surgery to remove both her breasts because she was sectioned and diagnosed with manic depression. She told the inquiry she was never transsexual and claimed she had been misdiagnosed by Dr Reid.

The disciplinary panel determined that Dr Reid also prescribed patients E and F with hormones too quickly and without an adequate assessment of their health or proof that they were transsexuals.

I’m thinking you want to err on the side of EXTREME CAUTION. So will Dr. Reid be barred from practicing medicine?

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