PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "When he was finally caught in June 2018, the Veterans Administration launched an investigation that combed through the nearly 34,000 cases he handled since he was hired to the $225,000-a-year job in 2005, finding more than 3,000 errors, misdiagnoses or irregularities. Prosecutors said he tried to cover up his mistakes by falsifying medical records for the vets he was treating and in one case forged the name of another doctor to make it appear the second pathologist concurred with Levy’s blown diagnosis. He allegedly also lied to investigators from the VA and the US Attorneys Office."
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STORY: "Ex-VA doctor fired for drinking charged in deaths of misdiagnosed patients," published by The Wellston Journal on November 27, 2019.
GIST: "A doctor who was fired from an Arkansas veterans hospital for being drunk on the job is now charged with killing three patients he misdiagnosed. In one case, Dr. Robert Morris Levy allegedly declared a patient cancer-free after a biopsy, only to have the man die of prostate cancer, according to court papers. In at least two cases he forged signatures and documents to cover up fatal blunders – even as he dodged random drug and alcohol tests by drinking a concoction of methyl and butanol that wouldn’t show up on the tests. Levy, former chief pathologist at the Fayetteville, Ark., Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, fraud and making false statements. He was first caught drinking on the job in 2016 after he registered a blood-alcohol level of .396 — nearly five times Arkansas’ legal limit of .08. He had his medical license suspended and was forced to undergo three months of rehab. But he was back at work by the end of the year, and prosecutors said he continued to show up drunk — even as he skated through a dozen blood and urine tests thanks to his favorite potion. When he was finally caught in June 2018, the Veterans Administration launched an investigation that combed through the nearly 34,000 cases he handled since he was hired to the $225,000-a-year job in 2005, finding more than 3,000 errors, misdiagnoses or irregularities. Prosecutors said he tried to cover up his mistakes by falsifying medical records for the vets he was treating and in one case forged the name of another doctor to make it appear the second pathologist concurred with Levy’s blown diagnosis. He allegedly also lied to investigators from the VA and the US Attorneys Office. “This indictment should remind us all that this country has a responsibility to care for those who have served honorably,” Duane Kees, US attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, said in a statement. “When that trust is violated through criminal conduct, those responsible must be held accountable.” Levy pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Little Rock on Tuesday."
The entire story can be read at:
https://wellstonjournal.com/ex-va-doctor-fired-for-drinking-charged-in-deaths-of-misdiagnosed-patients.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
