What the DC board of medicine did not know

  December 24, 2014

   What did the DC Board of Medicine not know when they revoked my license?

  I would like to inform the public that the DC Board of medicines decision to revoke my license was made possible by human errors.  

  The board began to investigate my practice because of three complaints by two physicians and a pharmacist that I was prescribing excessive amounts of controlled substances . Dr. David Katz, Dr. Michael Fratkin and pharmacist Shane Miller in writing  alleged malpractice by me. Their personal statements were written on an official form which indicated that any misrepresentation in the complaint would be perjury according to the laws of the District of Columbia. The fourth complaint filed by Mr. Stephen Kennedy a senior consultant to the World Bank asserted that I had killed his son Patrick by inappropriately prescribing methadone.  

    After a lengthy investigation the board revoked my license.  The Board members expressed their opinion that Patrick’s death well justified their decision. 

  

  What we know today

 A grieving father was masterful in persuading the board to overlook evidence-based medicine . A major error by the Fairfax County pathologist had wrongly attributed the death  to methadone overdose. Later ,two expert cardiologists and an independent pathologist concluded that Patrick was most likely a victim of a rare almost fatal congenital cardiac disease and unrelated to his treatment under my care.

    Two classic textbooks -Harrison's principles of medicine and Goodman and Gilman therapeutics -further offered evidence to indicate that both the dosage and the blood concentrations of methadone were consistent with standard guidelines .

  Were the members of the board aware of the information from Harrison's principles of medicine or Goodman and Gilman therapeutics? I know for sure they were not aware of the three independent expert opinions exonerating me in the death of Patrick Kennedy. They said so openly and repeatedly during the last hearing.

  I'm equally sure that the board members were unaware of other inconsistencies. Such as the paper trail evidence that the first three complainants committed perjury by misrepresenting essential facts. Furthermore, Shane Miller was personally prompted by Dr. Jacqueline Watson the executive director of the board of medicine to file a false complaint.

  Was prejudice against people with mental illness a factor? No patient input was obtained . No patient complained. No patient testified.

   Could something like this happen to a patient with an eye or skin problem? Is it rational to investigate a physician based upon complaints by third parties with very limited clinical knowledge  and at the exclusion of feedback from the most crucial person, the patient?

What I've learned

Trust but validate. I trusted my lawyers to do the right thing. They dropped the ball. I did not realize the key information about the expert cardiology consultation was never communicated to the board. I did not assert myself sufficiently to demand that

the 4 liars-Dr. Katz, Dr. Fratkin  Mr. Miller Dr. Watson-be cross examined .

  My fatal error was to listen to my lawyer and not to address the specific medical evidence of Patrick Kennedys death in the last hearing. I had my chance to talk directly to the board. I didn't. Instead I let my lawyer hand my medical license away.

I hope others would benefit from  my pain.
I would appreciate any help finding a lawyer who would  on a contingency basis take legal action against a few bad apples .