MEDIA, Pa. (CBS/AP) — A Pennsylvania ear, nose and throat doctor has been charged with indecently assaulting a 39-year-old female patient by touching her breasts and private areas during an exam.
Defense attorney Arthur Donato says Dr. Mahmoud Ghaderi is “well-respected” and will defend himself against charges of aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault stemming from the April 19 exam.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by CBS3, the victim’s primary care physician recommended she see Dr. Ghaderi.
During the exam, authorities say Ghaderi looked in her ear, stating, “there weren’t any tumors” before starting to feel around her neck.
The woman tells investigators that Ghaderi complimented her on being young looking and after telling him she had a teenage daughter he responded by saying, “You had her when you were 2?”
She says he then touched her improperly after suggesting her gynecologist wasn’t properly treating her.
That’s when Ghaderi is accused of touching the victim inappropriately.
“You know I’m a doctor even though I’m an ear nose and throat, I’m still a doctor,” Ghaderi allegedly told the victim. “I just want to make sure that your gynecologist is doing everything that they’re supposed to do because you have such a young face.”
Authorities say Ghaderi proceed to feel the victim’s breasts and asked her to unbutton her pants.
In the complaint, Ghaderi is accused of touching the victim in her private areas so that he could “check for lesions”
Ghaderi has been arrested and charged with aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault.
He is expected to appear in court for a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Thursday May 4. (LINK)—4/25/2017
Tredyffrin Doctor Who Allegedly Fondled Patient Sentenced
After pleading no contest to one count of indecent assault, the former ENT doctor who practiced in Delco was hit with a sentence.
TREDYFFRIN TOWNSHIP, PA – An ear, nose, and throat doctor from Tredyffrin Township who practiced in Delaware County was hit with a sentence recently after entering a no contest plea to one count of indecent assault without consent of others, court records show.
Mahmoud Max Ghaderi, 55, of Tredyffrin, will spend three months under electronic home monitoring, two years of probation, and 15 years of registration nuder [sic] Megan’s law after entering his plea on July 23.
He was accused of fondling a patient in April 2016 in his Springfield office.
A police affidavit claimed Ghaderi, despite not being an obstetrician-gynecologist, performed breast exams on a patient seeking help with ear pain. He then allegedly put his hand down her pants and felt around her thighs and vagina.
Investigators sent an undercover detective to Ghaderi’s office to glean more information about the visit in question, and sent a detective not undercover to question Ghaderi more about the visit. Experts later said Ghaderi’s actions were not medically necessary.
Following the accusations, Ghaderi’s medical license was temporarily suspended by the Pennsylvania Board of Osteopathic Medicine. (LINK)—7/30/2018
VIRGINIA MEDICAL BOARD RECORD—0101223610 DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS—None listed as of 7/31/2018
Bristol doctor arrested on sodomy charges
BRISTOL, Va. – A Bristol doctor was arrested Monday morning on charges of sexual battery and sodomy.
Dr. Shannon Finch, 46, was arrested on three charges of sexual battery and one charge of attempted forcible sodomy. He was picked up at his practice – Finch Family Medical Care – on Euclid Avenue Monday morning. There were patients present when he was taken into custody.
The investigation started at the end of June in 2018. The allegations involve a former female patient.
The Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Health Professions and the Bristol Virginia Police Department continue to investigate allegations of sexual abuse between Finch and a patient.
He is currently being held without bond at the Bristol, Va. jail.
If anybody has any further information, they are asked to call the Bristol, Va Police Department. (LINK)—7/30/2018
Police say video shows Bristol doctor sexually assaulting patient
BRISTOL, Va. — Warrants show police say they have video evidence against the Bristol, Virginia doctor arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a patient.
The warrants say as police saw the attack, they busted in the doctor’s office to stop it. The victim had been wearing a recording device on a scheduled medical visit.
Dr. Shannon Finch was arrested Monday for attempted forcible sodomy and three counts of sexual battery.
The warrants on file in court say the woman says she was sexually attacked by Finch on two separate occasions, reported it to police, and then they set up to get video evidence.
Finch has been released on bond and faces a court hearing October 4.
According to the Virginia Department of Health website, Finch has practiced in Bristol for 18 years and has no prior violations. They also have him listed as an affiliated doctor with Ballad Health’s Bristol Regional Medical Center. (LINK)—8/02/2018
Bristol, Va. doctor facing additional sex-related charge
BRISTOL, Va. — A Bristol, Va. doctor previously arrested for allegedly sexually assault a patient is facing addition charges.
According to Bristol Police, Shannon Finch was charged Thursday with an additional count of forcible sodomy.
This after a second alleged victim came forth to report improper behavior from the doctor.
The warrant was served and Finch was released on the previously set bond.
In the original investigation, warrants show police say they have video evidence against Finch.
The warrants say as police saw the attack, they busted in the doctor’s office to stop it. The victim had been wearing a recording device on a scheduled medical visit.
Dr. Shannon Finch was charged for attempted forcible sodomy and three counts of sexual battery.
The warrants on file in court say the woman says she was sexually attacked by Finch on two separate occasions, reported it to police, and then they set up to get video evidence.
Finch has been released on bond and faces a court hearing October 4.
According to the Virginia Department of Health website, Finch has practiced in Bristol for 18 years and has no prior violations. They also have him listed as an affiliated doctor with Ballad Health’s Bristol Regional Medical Center. (LINK)—8/16/2018
Newest charge against Bristol doctor occurred more than two years ago, affidavit states
BRISTOL, Va. — A woman says a Bristol, Virginia, doctor sexually assaulted her more than two years ago at his office.
Dr. Shannon Finch, 46, faces an additional count of forcible sodomy after the woman recently came forward to police. Sgt. Steve Crawford said the woman approached police after the doctor was arrested in another case, which resulted in three counts of sexual battery and one count of forcible sodomy.
The latest charge stems from an incident that occurred sometime between Oct. 1, 2015, and June 30, 2016, according to a criminal affidavit filed in Bristol Virginia General District Court. The woman went to Finch’s office, where she said he inappropriately touched her breast and buttocks and had her perform oral sex, the affidavit states.
Crawford said Friday that detectives continue to investigate. (LINK)—8/17/2018
Bristol doctor’s license revoked following sex-related charges
BRISTOL, Va. — A Bristol physician charged with multiple sex-related charges had his medical license revoked on Friday, according to the Virginia Board of Medicine.
Two women had accused Shannon Finch, 46, who had an office on Euclid Avenue, of inappropriate sexual contact during medical visits. The Bristol Virginia Police Department has charged Finch in those cases, which are documents in a VDM consent order.
On Friday, the board revoked Finch’s license, which had been enacted in 1999.
Finch, who faces three counts of sexual battery, attempted battery and sodomy, is scheduled to appear in Bristol General District Court on Jan. 31. (LINK)—12/03/2018
Did the court actually render a verdict saying you are innocent, or did they just dismiss the charges because there wasn’t enough evidence to prosecute. If it’s the latter, why should the article come down?
NORTH CAROLINA MEDICAL BOARD RECORD—9400142 DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS—see below
07/10/2018 Consent Order View 01/05/2018 Voluntary Surrender of License View
Channel 9 questions VA doctor about accusations of
being under the influence while seeing patient
SALISBURY, NC - Channel 9 questioned a former doctor at the
Salisbury Veteran’s Affair Medical Center about accusations he was
under the influence while seeing a patient.
Channel 9 recently reported that Gregory Earl Scott was caught
intoxicated after seeing a patient Dec. 13.
The center officials later recommended Scott be fired.
Eyewitness News anchor John Paul tracked down Scott outside the
Rowan County Courthouse on Thursday. He’s charged with being
intoxicated and disruptive and resisting an officer.
Scott didn’t have much to say.
Before walking into the court, he told Channel 9, “It’s all under
litigation.”
He said “No” after Paul asked him if he ever saw patients under the
influence.
According to the state medical board, on Jan. 5, Scott surrendered his
medical license and no longer works for the VA.
John Paul asked, “Why did you surrender your license?”
Scott didn’t respond.
Scott had been employed as a neurologist since 1997.
After a Freedom of Information Act request, Channel 9 obtained a
heavily redacted VA police report about the incident.
The report said they were contacted by the Rowan County Sheriff’s
Office about a road rage incident where a man pointed a gun at
someone.
Scott denied pointing a gun at someone.
The vehicle involved was found in the VA parking lot and belonged to
Scott.
A VA officer tracked him down and asked about the incident. Scott
claimed he pointed his glasses case at the person.
Officers noted, “There was a strong odor of alcoholic beverage
coming off his body.”
Officers searched Scott’s car and found beer, vodka bottles and a
hunting knife, but no gun.
Scott consented to an alcohol test, which confirmed he had been
drinking.
We also obtained a memo that confirmed Scott had seen a patient
earlier in the day.
Channel 9 knocked on Scott’s door in Salisbury to get a comment, but
he did not answer the door.
Multiple phone calls to Scott were not returned.
Weeks after surrendering his medical license, Scott was arrested for
disorderly conduct on Jan. 19 after a police report said, “He appeared
intoxicated and yelled obscenities at officers.”
Channel 9 learned that dozens of employees have been disciplined or
fired recently at the Salisbury VA.
We found out there was an 86 percent increase in employee incidents
from 2016 to 2017, from abuse of patients to sleeping on duty and drinking.
Channel 9 took our findings to North Carolina U.S. Rep. Robert
Pittenger’s office.
“Incredible,” Pittenger said. “They’ve been able to do whatever they
wanted to do because it’s been a protection of employees.”
Pittenger’s assistant’s desk is covered in files representing nearly 500
pending cases against the VA.
Pittenger said that now that a light is being shown on the Salisbury
Medical Center, veterans should rest a little easier and that the main
focus will be on their care.
“This isn’t about jobs, this is about people. This is about their lives,”
Pittenger said.
After court, Scott went into his attorney’s office to avoid any more
questions. (LINK)—5/04/2018
WEST VIRGINIA MEDICAL BOARD RECORD—21191 DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS—Limitation or Restriction on License/Practice
Charleston doctor indicted in drug-related deaths
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Kanawha Valley medical doctor allegedly caused the deaths of two patients by selling them drugs outside the bounds of his medical practice and then allegedly tried to conceal the money he received for his illegal drug business.
A 15-count federal indictment against Dr. Muhammed Samer Nasher-Alneam was announced Friday by U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart.
The indictment alleges that from July 2013 through February 2015 Nasher was selling the pain killing drugs hydrocodone, oxycodone and methadone from his “Neurology & Pain Center” that he initially operated in South Charleston and then in Charleston.
It’s alleged that on Sept. 9. 2014 Nasher distributed an amount of oxycodone for non-legitimate medical purposes to a person identified in the indictment as S.S. who later died. On Feb. 24, 2015 Nasher allegedly prescribed oxycodone and oxymorphone to a patient who didn’t need it and patient A.J. died.
According to the indictment, Nasher tried to hide his drug business by transferring approximately $290,000 to a financial institution in Istanbul, Turkey. The indictment lists four transfers.
“This United States Attorney plans to hold accountable medical providers that chose greed over patient care,” Stuart said in a news release. “Due to the funding provided because of the incredible commitment of this administration and Attorney General Sessions, we are aggressively going after doctors, pharmacies and other medical providers that contribute to the opiate epidemic purely for money. No medical provider should prey on individuals suffering from drug addiction for reasons rooted in personal greed. Far too many West Virginians lose their lives every year to opioid overdoses. The resources of the OFADU will make a big difference in our state and enable us to reverse the trend of overdose deaths. Drug dealers with a medical degree are still drug dealers.”
Nasher’s attorney, Mike Hissam, said they will fight the charges.
“Although we certainly understand that the United States Attorney is eager to lay blame for the opioid crisis, Dr. Nasher maintained a state-approved clinic to help West Virginians who were suffering with real pain. He looks forward to clearing his name in court,” Hissam said.
Agents with the FBI and DEA along with Charleston police raided Nasher’s Charleston office in February. (LINK)—7/27/2018
FLORIDA MEDICAL BOARD RECORD—UO5790 DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS—None listed as of 7/28/2018
Doctor charged with sexual battery on boy, 15, he said he was “cuddling”
VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - A Florida doctor is accused of raping a 15-year-old boy in DeBary, and Volusia County authorities are searching for other possible victims, reports CBS Orlando affiliate WKMG-TV. Alexander Ralys, 30, of Jacksonville, was staying with others Wednesday, including the victim, at his childhood friend’s family home in DeBary, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
Just before 2 a.m. Thursday, someone in the home called 911 to report they had walked in on Ralys molesting the victim, deputies said. The 911 caller said he kicked Ralys out of the home after he walked into the 15-year-old’s bedroom and saw Ralys naked from the waist down on top of the victim.
Ralys told the 911 caller “he was lonely and went to sleep in (the victim’s) room and that was all,” according to the report.
The victim told detectives that when he woke up, his boxers were off and Ralys must have removed them. He also said Ralys sexually battered him and it wasn’t the first time it had happened, according to the report. Several months ago, the victim told authorities, Ralys showed him porn and performed a sexual act on him.
Ralys told detectives he couldn’t sleep and walked around the house, finding only the victim was awake. The suspect said he laid down in the bottom bunk next to the teen and all he did was cuddle with the victim, but at some point during the “cuddling” he was on top of the 15-year-old, according to the report.
Ralys said he has known the victim since he was 2 years old and denied sexually battering him, deputies said.
Ralys is charged with sexual battery with physical form on a victim older than 12 years old. He was booked into the Volusia County Jail Thursday.
Ralys is currently employed as a first-year resident at the Orange Park Medical Center, west of Jacksonville. As of Thursday afternoon, Ralys was still listed as a family medicine doctor on the practice’s website. WKMG was seeking comment from the medical center.
Sheriff’s Office officials said additional charges are pending further investigation. (LINK)—7/27/2018
Californians! Check and see if your doctor is on our list of doctors with disciplinary action. We have added doctors going back to mid-2015 and add more every day. Our site is better than the Medical Board’s website (and new app) because we also have links to news articles about the doctor, court documents, videos and documents that the Medical Board won’t put on their website.
You should be able to point the camera on your cellphone at the logo and have it open our webpage in a browser on your phone.
TEXAS MEDICAL BOARD RECORD—M1994 DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS—see disciplinary actions at the bottom of this blog post
McKinney surgeon’s license suspended after patients allege sexual assault
The Texas Medical Board on Friday temporarily suspended the license of a McKinney orthopedic surgeon arrested on suspicion he sexually assaulted two female patients while they were under his care.
Dr. Donald Okechukwu Ozumba, 44, faces two charges of sexual assault, according to court records. McKinney police arrested him Mar. 31 and booked him at the Collin County Jail, where his bail was set at $50,000. He was released Sunday.
The medical board temporarily suspended Ozumba’s medical licence “after determining his continuation in the practice of medicine poses a continuing threat to public welfare,” according to a news release from the board.
The board will look into the allegations before taking further action.
“A temporary suspension hearing with notice will be held as soon as practicable with 10 days’ notice to Dr. Ozumba, unless the hearing is specifically waived by Dr. Ozumba,” the release said.
Police said the offenses happened at OSSM Orthopedics in the 8000 block of State Highway 121 in McKinney.
Ozumba couldn’t be reached for comment this week, but his family released a prepared statement to KXAS-TV (NBC5).
“We flatly deny each and every false allegation and are confident that the legal system will vindicate Dr. Ozumba,” the statement read. “We appreciate the support from our local and global community.”
One of the women went to his office last week to be treated for a sports injury, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. She told police that the doctor exposed half of her genitals to check for internal fluid and told her he needed to rub in the medication he had injected under her left hip.
Ozumba massaged the area, then penetrated the woman’s genitals with his fingers and massaged her inside, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. The woman’s husband was sitting behind the doctor but couldn’t see what was happening , police said.
The woman told police that she contacted another doctor after the visit and asked whether what Ozumba had done was normal procedure. The second doctor informed her that Ozumba was “absolutely not supposed to penetrate her vagina,” according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
Shortly after the visit, Ozumba asked the woman to download a messaging app and sent her a text asking what her favorite part of the procedure was, according to the affidavit. The woman told police that she texted him back with a message that said “Not receiving a script,” then deleted the app.
Ozumba continued to text the woman and asked her to come back in, according to police.
Another woman reported a sexual assault to McKinney police in August that occurred during an appointment with Ozumba the same month, records show. She said she had gone to the doctor to get a shot for a physical disability, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Ozumba had been rude to the woman during her first two appointments, but he became “charming” during the third visit, according to the affidavit.
A nurse gave the woman paper shorts and a gown to cover herself during a sonogram, but the doctor told the woman that he couldn’t help her until she undressed and told her to cover up with a sheet, police said.
According to the woman’s account, Ozumba left the room and came back. He rubbed the outside of her legs like he was feeling for something and then began to rub the inside of her legs, she told police. The
woman felt something poking her genitals and thought it was the sonogram machine cord but realized it was the doctor, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
The woman said the doctor left the room and came back. He had her roll on her side, lifted her leg and rubbed her groin, according to the affidavit.
After the doctor left the room again, the woman jumped to her feet and dressed, police said. She told a nurse that she had another appointment and left, according to the affidavit.
“[The victim] stated that Ozumba was trying to ‘masturbate’ her,” police wrote in the affidavit.
The woman told police she hadn’t said anything because she was embarrassed and thought she should have known better about what to do during the incident. Police called her to get more information about her case after the March assault was reported, records show.
Ozumba, who was born in Nigeria, has been fully licensed by the Texas Medical Board since 2005, state records show. He reported no criminal history. No medical malpractice investigations were listed on his physician profile.
Last year, the Texas Medical Board ordered Ozumba to complete a course in ethics or risk management after he failed to release the medical and billing records of a patient in a timely fashion following multiple written requests, state records show.
Ozumba’s specialty is sports medicine. He has worked as team physician for professional, college and high school teams, including Rockwall-Heath High School, Cedar Hill High School and the University of Dallas, according to his website.
Anyone with information can call Detective Jennifer Grounds with the McKinney Police Department at 972-547-2727 or [email protected] (LINK)—4/03/2017
Patient says surgeon facing new sex charges jabbed her with needle for bringing husband ‘for backup’
A McKinney surgeon arrested last week on suspicion of sexually assaulting two female patients has been arrested again on four new sexual assault charges. He denies the allegations.
McKinney police arrested Donald Ozumba, 44, on Tuesday and booked him at the Collin County jail, where his combined bail was set at $100,000. He has already been released, records show.
“These allegations are false,” Ozumba family spokeswoman Lauren Bennett said in a prepared statement to KXAS-TV (NBC5) on Tuesday. “We are confident that justice will be served and that Dr. Ozumba will be fully exonerated.”
Before Tuesday’s arrest, Ozumba faced two sexual assault charges connected to accusations that he groped and penetrated the genitals of two female patients he was treating — one last August and one in late March.
One of the patients told police that Ozumba had texted her after the assault to ask her what her favorite part of the procedure was.
The four new charges stem from complaints three other people made this month, McKinney police said.
One woman complained about a visit in July. She told police she went to see Ozumba for an injection and was asked to undress from the waist down and given a paper sheet to cover herself. After applying the injection on her outer leg, Ozumba told the woman that he needed to manipulate the leg to ensure the medicine had gone to the right area, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
The woman said Ozumba’s fingers went over her genitals and that she felt like he was stroking her, according to the affidavit. She told police that the doctor asked her if she was happy or feeling good and that she asked him, “What did you say?” The doctor replied, “Oh, nothing,” according to the affidavit.
The woman told police that Ozumba called her while she was away on a mission trip. During a follow-up appointment, the woman brought a daughter and a friend because she felt uncomfortable, according to the affidavit. Ozumba seemed angry about the other visitors and didn’t get close to the patient’s genitals, the affidavit reads.
A second woman, who went to Ozumba for knee pain, also complained about visits that took place last summer and alleged that she was asked to undress from the waist down. She told police Ozumba attributed her knee problems to her hips, gave her an injection and then used an ultrasound wand on the crease of her leg. The woman felt Ozumba’s little finger touch her clitoris, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
“Ozumba advised [the patient] that he was wanting to check a little longer to make sure the injection was doing what it was supposed to do,” the affidavit reads.
The woman told police that she thought about getting a second opinion but that she assumed what happened “was process.”
During another visit for a hip injection, the woman decided to keep her underwear on, according to the affidavit. The doctor looked shocked and later moved her underwear to expose her genitals, the woman told police.
The woman said Ozumba’s finger had “consistent contact” with her genitals, according to the affidavit.
A third woman complained about a January appointment. The patient told police that Ozumba said her knee pain was stemming from her hip issues and that he had administered injections in her inner thigh and in her right knee.
The woman kept her spandex on during one injection appointment, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. She told police that while Ozumba massaged her leg, he kept hitting her genitals and that his hand hit her clitoris directly.
During a follow-up visit, the woman brought her husband, according to the affidavit. She said she visited for a shot in one of her knees, but as she was leaving, a nurse told the woman that the doctor had time to give her an injection on her other knee.
The woman told police she went to get the other shot from the pharmacy and told her husband he could go back to work.
When she returned to the doctor’s office, Ozumba looked angry and said, “you had to bring your husband for backup,” according to the affidavit. The woman told police that Ozumba “jabbed” her with the needle and caused her to yell in pain as retaliation for bringing her husband.
As he moved her leg back and forth, the doctor rubbed the woman’s foot against his genitals, according to the affidavit.
Ozumba is an orthopedic surgeon with an office in McKinney. Earlier this month, the Texas Medical Board temporarily suspended his medical license “after determining his continuation in the practice of medicine poses a continuing threat to public welfare,” according to a news release from the board.
The board will look into the allegations before taking further action. (LINK)—4/11/2017
Elderly woman accuses McKinney doctor of sexual assault in first of multiple cases
A 73-year-old woman testified Tuesday that her McKinney doctor sexually assaulted her with his hand during an office visit in 2016.
The woman said she “totally blanked out” and “froze” during the incident.
“I should have gotten off the table, screamed and left,” said the woman, who is not being named because The Dallas Morning News does not typically identify those reporting sexual assault.
“Why I didn’t do it? I don’t know,” she told Collin County jurors on the first day of the criminal trial for Dr. Donald Ozumba.
The 45-year-old orthopedic surgeon is charged with aggravated sexual assault involving an elderly person. The woman was 71 years old at the time of the incident.
If he is convicted, Ozumba could face up to life in prison.
Ozumba is currently on trial for the single charge, but six other sexual assault cases are pending in Collin County. Allegations from other women have also been referred to the Rockwall County District Attorney’s Office.
The Texas Medical Board has accused Ozumba of unprofessional conduct involving 13 patients. He is accused of sexually assaulting nine patients and engaging in sexual contact and inappropriate sexual behavior with two others. He also had sexual relationships with two patients, according to a January complaint filed by the medical board.
Ozumba denied the allegations in a response to the medical board’s complaint. His medical license is suspended while the board’s complaint is pending, documents show. The board said Ozumba would be “a continuing threat to public welfare” if he continued to practice medicine.
Collin County prosecutor Calli Bailey told jurors Tuesday that Ozumba took advantage of his patients, who “put their full trust in him.”
Defense attorney Toby Shook urged the 10 women and two men on the jury to keep an open mind. Once they hear all the evidence, he told them, they’ll “find the state has not met its burden.”
The woman didn’t have a sex assault exam done. Nor was there anyone in the room to witness what happened between doctor and patient. The woman’s accounts to police differed in some of its details.
But the woman said she has not wavered in her account that Ozumba used his hand to sexually assault her “12 to 15 times” while she was lying on her back on his exam table. The woman testified Tuesday that she was initially too embarrassed to reveal what happened. Two days later, after telling her husband of 54 years, the couple notified police.
Jurors also heard testimony Tuesday from two other women who called McKinney police after seeing a TV news report in April 2017 about Ozumba’s arrest. Like the 71-year-old woman, they were receiving steroid injections in their hip or groin area when they say the sexual assault occurred.
When Ozumba’s accuser was asked why she decided to go forward with authorities, she said, “I wanted to stop him from hurting anybody else.”
Texas jury convicts doctor of sexually assaulting elderly patient
DALLAS (AP) – A Texas doctor accused of sexually assaulting several patients was convicted Friday of assaulting a woman in her 70s who was in his care.
Donald Ozumba, 45, was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault of an elderly person after a trial in Collin County, northeast of Dallas. The trial now moves into the punishment phase, where the orthopedic surgeon could face a life sentence.
Six other sex assault cases are pending against the Nigerian-born doctor. The Texas Medical Board accuses Ozumba of sexually assaulting a total of nine patients and of inappropriate sexual conduct with four others. The board suspended his license within a week of his 2017 arrest.
In the trial prosecuted this week, the victim testified she was being treated at a McKinney clinic for a physical disability when Ozumba used his finger to illegally touch and penetrate her. The women said she froze, abruptly left the office and later contacted police after speaking with her husband.
County prosecutors have described the case as one of the most egregious they’ve encountered involving a physician victimizing patients. Jurors deliberated for about two days before finding Ozumba guilty.
Ozumba’s attorney, Toby Shook, said there wasn’t enough evidence for a conviction and that the victim was misremembering what happened.
“I don’t believe she has an accurate memory about what happened,” Shook said, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Jurors heard testimony from three other women who said they, too, were sexually assaulted by Ozumba under the guise of medical treatment, the newspaper reported. (LINK)—7/27/2018
I-Team Exclusive: North Texas Patients Claim Sexual Assault In Exam Room
McKINNEY, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – Rubbing her hands together and holding a tissue, a North Texas woman talked about the summer of 2016 when she said a knee injury sent her to Dr. Donald Ozumba.
“He put me in a backroom to do a sonogram and give me a shot,” she explained with her husband sitting nearby.
“Usually they keep the papers shorts on you… just cut a hole in the side, but he did the sonogram which I had never had.” The woman said she had received the same shot by other doctors, but never with a sonogram. She says that procedure led to assault.
“You’re thinking this is not happening. Maybe this is the probe that is touching me. This is my doctor. This can’t be happening.”
Over the next several minutes, she said the 45-year-old orthopedic specialist repeatedly touched her inappropriately. When he left the room to get more sonogram gel, she said she got dressed and rushed out.
“Did you ever say anything to him about this being inappropriate,” the I-Team asked. “No. No.” “What stopped you form doing that? What were you afraid of?” The former patient paused for several seconds, “I don’t know. ….I got in my car and thought this didn’t happen. If I tell on him, I’m ruing a man’s life. How can I go tell on someone who has that much education, and children and a wife?” Her voice trembled.
For two days, she says she was also afraid to tell her husband. “I made him promise me he wouldn’t do anything if I told him what was happening.”
They say they called the police that night. Later they reported it to the Texas Medical Board, but she says what happened next but her feel as if no one- except her family-believed her. She says the McKinney Police Department closed the case and the Texas Medical Board closed the case.
“I was so scared he’d do this to anyone who went in there.”
Months later, in March of 2017, something happened. Detectives from the McKinney police department showed back up at her door. Encouraged, she explained, “Another lady came forward.”
Investigators told the former patient she was not alone.
Sitting in a dark room so her face would also be disguised, another former patient told the I-Team, “He told me he had his own way of doing things so I trusted he knew what he was doing.” This is a second woman who says she too had been to Doctor Ozumba for a hip injury.
“As he was doing the procedure, he touched me inappropriately and I thought for a moment ‘is that real? Did that really just happen?’ And I thought he doesn’t know what he is doing. It’s an accident and then it happened again. And I’m just laying there. And I’m frozen and I’m stuck and I’m in shock and I’m thinking what is happening right now?”
These women and others testified in a criminal trial against Doctor Ozumba this summer where he was sentenced to ten years for sexual assault of a 73-year-old patient. Now, following more grand jury indictments, the Collin County District Attorney’s Office tells the I-Team six more cases are pending in Collin County and four more in Rockwall County.
Several women are also filing a civil suit.
“None of these women knew each other before the criminal case and that brought them together, “ said Attorney Tahira Meritt.
She and Attorney Robert Greening represent the women. They say the former patients want to make sure this didn’t happen to anyone else.
One of the women told CBS 11, “I could have kept so many from being assaulted if they would have believed me,” and then paused, “…because most of those were after me.”
“I think there needs to be some education in the police departments the board of how to talk to these people and understand what is going on,” said Greening. “We believe we are also going to be able to prove in this case that he not only sexually abused these patients but that he also used that position he had to abuse them and perform unnecessary procedures.”
Merritt responded explaining what the women claim actually took place in that exam room. “He would use the sonogram, the doppler, in order to locate where he was going to put the needle…and his hands…and fingers would contact their genitals.”
In emotion that wavered from tears to anger, a former patient said, “He’s given all of us victims a life sentence. We have to live with what he did, and he gets 10 years out of a possible life.”
In addition to the criminal cases and the civil suit, the Texas State Medical Board is also still investigating. State documents show 13 other patients filed similar complaints against Doctor Ozumba claiming sexual assault or inappropriate conduct. According to the records, two of the patients say it led to an inappropriate sexual relationship.
Dr. Ozumba denied the I-Team’s request for an interview in prison.He is appealing the first criminal case. The second is scheduled for trial next year.
The State Medical Board told CBS 11 in October it created task force “…to better educate themselves and the public about these issues, victim responses and overall dynamics.”
Here is the board’s full statement:
“The case involving Dr. Ozumba is still pending at the State Office of Administrative Hearings. The most recent action is the Board was granted a motion to abate by the Administrative Law Judge in order to amend its original Formal Complaint to now include his conviction as it moves towards seeking a Motion for Summary Disposition based on the conviction.
Dr. Ozumba’s license has been suspended since July of last year. The Board took this emergency action within a week of his arrest.
Beyond what is contained in the SOAH Formal Complaints and disciplinary orders posted to the physician profiles, we’re unable to provide complaint and/or investigative information because it is statutorily confidential.
Because this case is ongoing litigation and due to the aforementioned confidentiality, we’re not able to directly address any specific complaint information. In general, complaints can be dismissed for several reasons including jurisdiction issues, lack of evidence, or duplicative complaints (the Board is previously aware of an issue).
The Texas Medical Board takes issues of physician misconduct very seriously, and the Board has organized a taskforce to further research physician boundaries issues broadly.
The Board accomplishes its mission of public protection through its disciplinary process much of which is prescribed by state statute and rule. For physicians who are a continuing threat to the public, this can include imposing severe practice restrictions and suspending or revoking licenses.
Each case will have its own set of individual facts and circumstances, and as such, each must be evaluated on a case-by-case-basis. Not all boundary violations are revocable offenses. A physician making inappropriate remarks is certainly different from a physician physically assaulting a patient or engaging in predatory behavior.
In every case, the Board will rely on information provided by both the complainant and the licensee to help determine whether a violation has occurred. Additionally, patient medical records and all relevant arrest and court records can be subpoenaed and the Board can request a licensee to appear at an informal disciplinary hearing to ask questions regarding the patient encounter. The complainant can also make a statement at this hearing. These proceedings are considered confidential under state law.
The Board has the ability to temporarily suspend or restrict a physician’s practice upon initial arrest for sexual assault, however in the event criminal charges are dropped or there is an acquittal, the Board would have obvious difficulty litigating its related case. Many times witnesses are unwilling to testify or there is very little evidence which can make it difficult to determine whether or not a violation occurred.
Regardless of these potential challenges, the Board is focused on stopping licensees who are a danger to the public and will continue to do so through its enforcement process prescribed by state statute and rule. Please note in cases where a physician is not revoked there is typically a restriction prohibiting the physician from treating the affected patient population.” (LINK)—12/05/2018
DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS:
Action Date: 01/04/2018 Description: ON JANUARY 4, 2018, A FORMAL COMPLAINT WAS FILED BY THE BOARD.
Action Date: 12/02/2017 Description: ON DECEMBER 2, 2017, REMEDIAL PLAN DATED DECEMBER 2, 2016 WAS TERMINATED DUE TO COMPLETION OF ALL REQUIREMENTS.
Action Date: 07/28/2017 Description: ON JULY 28, 2017, A DISCIPLINARY PANEL OF THE TEXAS MEDICAL BOARD TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED, WITH NOTICE, THE TEXAS MEDICAL LICENSE OF DONALD OKECHUKWU OZUMBA, M.D., AFTER DETERMINING HIS CONTINUATION IN THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE POSES A CONTINUING THREAT TO PUBLIC WELFARE. THE SUSPENSION WAS EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. THE BOARD PANEL FOUND THAT OZUMBA HAS BEEN INDICTED ON 8 COUNTS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT BY THE COLLIN COUNTY GRAND JURY. THE TEMPORARY SUSPENSION REMAINS IN PLACE UNTIL THE BOARD TAKES FURTHER ACTION.
Action Date: 04/07/2017 Description: ON APRIL 7, 2017, A DISCIPLINARY PANEL OF THE TEXAS MEDICAL BOARD TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED, WITHOUT NOTICE, THE TEXAS MEDICAL LICENSE OF DONALD OKECHUKWU OZUMBA, M.D., AFTER DETERMINING HIS CONTINUATION IN THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE POSES A CONTINUING THREAT TO PUBLIC WELFARE. THE SUSPENSION WAS EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. THE BOARD PANEL FOUND THAT DR. OZUMBA WAS RECENTLY ARRESTED BY THE MCKINNEY POLICE DEPARTMENT AND CHARGED WITH SEXUALLY ASSAULTING TWO PATIENTS THAT HE TREATED. A TEMPORARY SUSPENSION HEARING WITH NOTICE WILL BE HELD AS SOON AS PRACTICABLE WITH 10 DAYS’ NOTICE TO DR. OZUMBA, UNLESS THE HEARING IS SPECIFICALLY WAIVED BY DR. OZUMBA. THE TEMPORARY SUSPENSION REMAINS IN PLACE UNTIL THE BOARD TAKES FURTHER ACTION.
Action Date: 12/02/2016 Description: ON DECEMBER 2, 2016, THE BOARD AND DONALD OKECHUKWU OZUMBA, M.D., ENTERED INTO A NON-DISCIPLINARY REMEDIAL PLAN THAT REQUIRES DR. OZUMBA TO WITHIN ONE YEAR COMPLETE AT LEAST EIGHT HOURS OF CME IN ETHICS AND/OR RISK MANAGEMENT; AND WITHIN 60 DAYS PAY AN ADMINISTRATIVE FEE OF $500 PER YEAR. THE BOARD FOUND DR. OZUMBA FAILED TO TIMELY RELEASE THE MEDICAL AND BILLING RECORDS OF A PATENT AFTER RECEIVING MULTIPLE WRITTEN REQUESTS FOR RECORDS BY FACSIMILE AND EMAIL. DR. OZUMBA DOES NOT ADMIT OR DENY THE FINDINGS BUT AGREED TO THE REMEDIAL PLAN TO AVOID THE COST AND UNCERTAINTY OF LITIGATION.
MISSISSIPPI VETERINARY BOARD RECORD—39059 DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS—None listed as of 7/24/2018
Family: Who fed our dog euthanasia drugs?
Anna Cupit brought Asher home as a puppy — a little black bundle of wiggles that she had already fallen deeply in love with in the bright, innocent way a girl loves her dog.
Her mother Melissa Cupit didn’t know she was going to get a dog, and she was alarmed when she learned Asher was a pit bull terrier.
“I was not very happy with the fact of her bringing a pit bull in because of the reputation that they have. I was upset about it,” Melissa Cupit said. “But the more we got to be with him and see what type of dog he was, I changed my mind completely. I have a whole new attitude about pit bulls now.”
But at least one of their neighbors did not. And the apparent result of that sentiment left Anna, still eight months later, consumed with grief.
‘Just so sweet’
Anna, now 23, didn’t care what Asher was expected to be, and Asher didn’t know people thought he was scary. Their family had always had dogs, but this was the first time Anna had one she considered her own.
Melissa’s husband Andy would lay in the recliner with Asher stretched out on top of him. The dog would climb into his family’s laps and rest his head on their shoulders to watch whatever they were doing. When Anna would drive with him as a puppy, he would wrap himself around her neck and shoulders, which became harder as he got bigger.
The dog would sleep curled up with Anna and her sister Victoria, and they would dress him up in sunglasses and other costumes. He even wore an American flag top hat and bow tie for the Fourth of July.
“What kind of dog lets you put all that stuff on him?” Melissa asked. “He was just so sweet.”
When Asher was about six months old, neighbor Stacy Gowan — a veterinarian — called Melissa and said she thought he had gotten into her chicken coop and killed her chickens. Gowan hadn’t seen him do it, and there were other dogs in the area, as well as foxes and coyotes, but Melissa apologized just in case.
Their smaller dogs were always safe with Asher, Melissa said. Neighborhood cats and the ducks that lived at the pond next door were safe. There was no indication Asher had the taste of blood in his mouth in the year and a half that followed. Still, neighbors told the Cupits that Gowan had made some threatening statements about Asher, saying she was going to “get him” — statements that Gowan loudly denies.
What happened to Asher?
Stifled sobs could be heard coming from the kitchen as Melissa described Asher’s last day on earth. Eight months had passed at the time of the interview, but Anna just couldn’t talk about it. She had only recently started sleeping in her room again — Asher had slept on her bed every night, keeping her company and keeping her safe.
“She’s… I hear her in there crying now. She can’t hold it together. She’s not married, doesn’t have any children, and that was her baby,” Melissa said. “She’d never had a dog she could call her own… it’s just really bad. She’s heartbroken.”
When a family dog is euthanized, it is almost always by choice because the dog is sick or injured, or is barely clinging to the end of his life. But Asher was two years old and in good health, just enjoying a country dog’s life when it came to an end.
Oct. 2 was a Sunday. Melissa had let Asher and the other dogs, including Mia, Victoria’s German Shepherd, out to play while she made lunch. As they came back in, Melissa noticed Asher was missing.
“I opened the door up and he came around the house and he was staggering and looked like he was drunk. I immediately said, ‘She’s given him something,’” Melissa said.
The family knew something was wrong, and rushed him to the vet.
As Asher rode, he laid his head on Andy’s shoulder. Melissa could tell he was trying to fall asleep, so she fought to keep him awake. Every time she said his name, Asher would sleepily wag his tail.
When he got to the vet’s office, Asher was put on a drip as a last-ditch effort to save his life. Anna was away at nursing school, and Melissa fielded her frantic, almost constant texts as they waited and hoped desperately that Asher would be okay.
He lived roughly another 20 hours.
Problems in the neighborhood
The rural cul de sac in western Lincoln County where the Cupits live tends to be quiet, they said. Everyone knows everyone, just like everyone knows everyone’s dogs.
Gowan said she saw Asher the day after her chickens were killed. She said he had come back to pick up pieces of the dead chickens that were still lying in her yard.
Even though he was only 6 months old at the time, in Gowan’s mind, Asher was the only neighborhood animal that would be strong enough to push under the bottom of her chicken pen.
She said that she had noticed that Asher was a pit bull who at the time wasn’t neutered, and that combination made her nervous. She asked the Cupits to keep Asher out of her yard, but she said she thinks he learned her schedule and would come over when he knew she wouldn’t be there or wouldn’t be attentive.
“I know what he would do. He would come over here in the morning — dogs are not stupid — he knows I come out about 7:30, and I’d see him running back over that way,” she said.
Gowan, who has been licensed since 1996, said she noticed digging around her pen in months leading up to Asher’s death. She acknowledges she’d seen other dogs — strays, even, and once a rottweiler — in the area.
But when she saw Mia with Asher, she said she worried the two might team up to kill neighborhood animals, including her two older cats.
Gowan and Melissa Cupit both said that when Gowan asked the Cupits again to keep Asher out of her yard, Melissa told her to shoot Asher with a BB gun, which wouldn’t injure him, but would scare him back home.
Gowan said after physical evidence of continued digging around her chicken pen that she said was also seen by others, she finally decided one weekend that she was going to handle the problem. She said she didn’t have time to sit around with a BB gun, and stated she didn’t know what animal was trying to get into the pen.
So, she said, she “baited it” overnight. She said she kept her dogs and cats inside and put the “bait” out by the chicken pen.
“The next morning the food was gone, and I have no idea what that animal was,” she said.
Anna Cupit helps Asher celebrate his birthday. (Photo: The Cupit family)
When asked what she used to bait the chicken pen, Gowan responded, “That’s private. It was something that would bring no pain at all to the dog, it was not anti-freeze. It would be no pain for the dog at all.”
But according to Gowan, she had picked the bait up by 7:30 a.m., hours before the Cupits said they let Asher out.
What was in the trash?
Melissa Cupit was uncomfortable with the idea, but she felt sure it was a possibility that Asher had been poisoned somehow. She took matters into her own hands and gathered Gowan’s trash before it could be picked up by the garbage men.
According to Melissa, when she and a detective from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department went through the garbage, there were several things that caught her attention, including a napkin full of canned dog food with a pink liquid running out of it.
There were several syringes, and there was a bottle that was labeled “BEUTH.” Melissa said she didn’t know what that was, so she googled it. It’s beuthanasia, a form of euthanasia for non-food animals, especially for dogs.
“It’s what vets put your dog to sleep with,” she said, saying that she believed that it could be proof that Gowan “had brought it from her office and had deliberately soaked the dog food and killed him.”
Asher’s vet was able to test the substances in his stomach, which were found to be canned dog food and euthanasia, according to Melissa. So the dog food was taken to the state Crime Lab, as were Asher’s remains.
It’s not illegal — in fact vets say it’s routine — for a veterinarian to bring home medicines in case they have to make house calls, but controlled substances are supposed to be kept in a special container under double lock. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration guidelines, controlled substances have to be disposed of at a reverse distributor and recorded on a waste log.
Anna Cupit and her dog Asher, sound asleep. (Photo: The Cupit family)
The duty to do that is not just law, it’s also part of the American Veterinary Medicine Association oath veterinarians take when they graduate from school, Mississippi Board of Veterinary Medicine Executive Secretary Nancy Christianson said. They promise to practice the profession “conscientiously, with dignity, and in keeping with the principles of veterinary medical ethics.”
Officials with the DEA, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, and the Mississippi Board of Veterinary Medicine, while not commenting on Asher’s case specifically, said that it would not be acceptable for a veterinarian to use a controlled substance to kill someone’s pet outside the veterinary practice. Also, they said, euthanasia should not be left on a curb in a neighborhood where children and pets can easily access them.
Gowan has not responded to messages asking for comment on the disposal of the substance.
The Cupits filed a sworn complaint against Gowan with the Board of Veterinary Medicine, Melissa said. Christianson said she could not comment on whether there is an ongoing investigation into this case, but said that the Legislature does give the board investigative powers once a sworn complaint has been filed.
Paper trail
A report from the Mississippi Veterinary Research and Diagnostic Laboratory showed that Asher died of “fatal pentobarbital and phenytoin toxicosis,” or euthanasia.
Melissa said she could hardly even read the “gross findings” section of the final report that started off, “A 2-year-old male neutered American Pit Bull Terrier weighing 68 pounds is submitted for necropsy on 10/2/2017 in a good state of preservation and good body condition.”
But that generic description was Asher — her daughter’s baby and the dog who had bonded with her husband more than any other dog ever had. The dog they had given a birthday party with a cake, who slept in their children’s and grandchildren’s beds. Asher, like their other dogs, was part of the family, but because of his outgoing loving attitude, maybe he was a little more.
“If I hadn’t thought to go through the trash, nothing would have come back, we wouldn’t have known what happened to him,” Melissa said.
In addition to their vet’s diagnosis and the one from Mississippi State, the Cupits sent Asher’s stomach contents to the state Crime Lab as well, and the results were that he had recently ingested dog food and euthanasia. His body was also sent for a necropsy at Michigan State University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
“The euthanasia agents phenytoin and pentobarbital are not found in liver samples from canines or other species that have passed away from natural causes,” the report reads. “These agents were observed in marked excess chromatographically with respect to our internal standards, thus suggesting that the animal had been euthanized.”
Andy received a text from Melissa one day saying Mia was in her yard again. He wrote her back.
“I’m going to get an electric wire put in just don’t kill her like you did my bulldog,” he wrote back, according to a screenshot of the conversation.
“Thank you,” was all the response he got.
Moving on
Anna said she doesn’t know when she’ll have another dog — the risk of loving something as much as she loves Asher is too much, she said. Her boyfriend even used to joke that she loved Asher more than she loved him.
Andy has thrown away the chair he used to lounge in with the dog. It’s not the same without him.
Asher in the recliner, where he and Andy Cupit liked to lounge together. (Photo: The Cupit family)
As Melissa talked about Asher and Anna cried in the kitchen, Victoria stretched out on the couch with her face buried in Mia’s fur. It was the first time she had let herself cry over Asher, her mother said.
“We want justice for Asher, and we don’t want another family to go through what we went through,” Melissa said. “We just hope the justice system is going to pull through and do what’s right.”
The case was taken to grand jury, according to Lincoln County District Attorney Dee Bates. Since it could be treated as a felony or a misdemeanor, the grand jury kicked it back down to Justice Court. Bates confirmed that they felt it was better treated as a misdemeanor, according to Mississippi law.
Under the same law, the court can order the offender to pay restitution, and it can also order psychological evaluation or community service. In addition, it can order the offender to be “enjoined from employment in any position that involves the care of a dog or cat, or in any place where dogs or cats are kept or confined, for a period which the court deems appropriate.”
The Cupits feel sure that if Asher had been a little fluffy Shih Tzu or a Golden Retriever, some of the story might have ended differently.
“We all just really miss him. He was a healthy part of our family — and he shouldn’t have died this way. He should be with us,” Melissa said. “I told Anna that I know a lot of people won’t understand this, they’ll think he’s just a dog, and she said, ‘Mama, love is love.’” (LINK)—6/19/2018
INDIANA MEDICAL BOARD RECORD—01045676A DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS—none listed as of 7/23/2018
Lake County, Ind., forensic pathologist practiced without licenseRuth Ann KrausePost-Tribune
A Lake County forensic pathologist provided expert testimony in court without having a medical license, accord
For more than a year, a forensic pathologist for the Lake County Coroner’s office did not have a license to practice as a physician in Indiana because of a tax warrant hold on his license, according to a state licensing agency.
Dr. John E. Cavanaugh, 57, is a board-certified forensic pathologist who has testified as an expert or skilled witness in numerous murder trials in Lake County.
Records at the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency indicate a tax hold was placed on Cavanaugh’s medical license on March 6, 2013, and that his license was expired from Nov. 1, 2013, through Dec. 2, 2014. Cavanaugh renewed his license on Dec. 2 after the tax warrant was paid off, records show.
Forensic pathology requires a medical license because it falls under the definition of medical practice, according to the Professional Licensing Agency.
Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter said Cavanaugh’s lack of a medical license will likely have no impact on criminal cases that went to trial where he conducted autopsies and rendered opinions as to the cause of the death. “It’s more of a clerical error than anything,” Carter said. “I don’t think it has any effect on us.”
Cavanaugh said he was told the tax hold would be lifted. He also said he was told he had six months to resolve the issue, and that he could practice medicine. After he switched from being incorporated to self-employed, Cavanaugh said he set up a tax payment plan in 2013. He said he made a down payment and paid the first installment on the plan and thought the issue was resolved within the six-month time period.
“I should have had a perfectly active license from May to October,” he said.
Cavanaugh said he sent in a check to renew his license on Oct. 8, 2013, prior to its expiration Oct. 31, 2013, only to find out at 6 p.m. on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving that there was a problem and the tax hold had been placed. “I owed them $15.92 on a second lien and I have the receipt to show that I paid that off,” he said.
Bob Dittmer, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Revenue, said he could not comment on the specifics of Cavanaugh’s tax obligations, but said that when the Professional Licensing Agency receives a renewal request, there is a check for tax warrants and the agency can put a hold on the license as a result of unpaid taxes.
Public records show that Cavanaugh had four tax warrants from 2011 totaling $12,731.74 that were satisfied in 2014, the last on Dec. 2. The following day, the Indiana Public Licensing Agency records show that Cavanaugh’s license was renewed to active status.
Cavanaugh initially became a licensed physician in Indiana in August 1996. He said he has never had any disciplinary action taken against his license.
“The bottom line is, last time I checked in December, I have an active license,” Cavanaugh said. (LINK)—3/06/2015
Unprecedented review after medical examiner fires doctor who missed a murder
Early one morning last October, Chicago firefighters responding to a smoky 15-unit building at 79th and Greenwood made a gruesome discovery in a third-floor apartment that was burning: the decomposing body of a man.
Found under a pile of trash, the body bore no burns despite the fire, which was quickly determined to be suspicious.
An autopsy done hours later found “no clear evidence of trauma,” according to the pathologist, Dr. John E. Cavanaugh, who listed the cause and manner of death as “undetermined.”
Not an uncommon ruling when there are no obvious signs of how someone died. But, in this case, it was wrong, the Cook County medical examiner’s office now says.
The unidentified, African-American man had suffered multiple wounds from an assault, the office of Dr. Ponni Arunkumar, the chief medical examiner, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
The cause of death has since been changed to homicide. It’s one of several cases Cavanaugh mishandled in the 10 months he worked at the medical examiner’s office before being fired last Nov. 30, according to Arunkumar.
Now, Arunkumar’s office — which reports to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle — is reviewing each of the 218 cases that Cavanaugh handled. They include two dozen deaths he ruled were homicides and 16 he determined were suicides.
Arunkumar calls the review unprecedented.
It could take months to complete. So far, nearly six months after Cavanaugh was fired, Arunkumar’s staff has finished reviewing just 23 of his cases, changing the cause or manner of death in eight of those.
Arunkumar hired Cavanaugh — a longtime pathologist for various counties in Indiana — to be her top deputy. Within six months, she demoted him, then fired him because she determined his “skill set” wasn’t right for one of the busiest morgues in the United States.
Arunkumar’s agency has notified Cook County prosecutors and the Chicago Police Department because findings of any mistakes by Cavanaugh could affect criminal investigations and prosecutions.
There’s also the emotional toll on families of the dead. Arunkumar says she and her staff have spoken with grieving relatives now faced with a new set of circumstances surrounding the death of a loved one.
The medical examiner’s office has touted improvements since revelations in 2012 — four years before Arunkumar assumed the top job — that corpses in blue body bags were being stacked in hallways as pathologists couldn’t keep pace and coolers overflowed with bodies.
In recent months, though, the Sun-Times has reported that some of the agency’s investigators, who help collect evidence for pathologists, have checkered pasts and faced disciplinary action for failing to visit even a single crime scene each month — the agency’s minimum standard and one that’s far less than required by state law and county ordinance.
Arunkumar stood by Dr. Steven White’s ruling that Markham committed suicide, rejecting the FBI’s assertion — based on an investigation that began with a tip and included a review by a pathologist who formerly worked for the Cook County agency — that White, an assistant medical examiner, was wrong.
But Arunkumar isn’t defending Cavanaugh, who worked for three coroner offices in Indiana before being hired as Arunkumar’s top deputy, a job he started in February 2017 at $250,000 a year.
“We have not had a situation like this,” Arunkumar says.
She credits her agency’s “peer-review” procedures for discovering problems with Cavanaugh’s work last October. A semi-annual audit of staff members found errors in “four or five” of six Cavanaugh cases examined, according to Arunkumar. She says her office also will intensify its audits of autopsies and reports for all new pathologists.
“We have notified the state’s attorney … that any case done by Dr. Cavanaugh will involve another report with a second signature,” Arunkumar says.
Besides making exam-room mistakes, Arunkumar says Cavanaugh’s reports on death cases were rife with omissions and contradictions and that he sometimes failed to document “injuries” to the deceased.
She also says Cavanaugh took too long to wrap up his cases, 90 percent of which are supposed to be ruled on and closed within 90 days, ideally within 60 days.
How the office rules on a death — determining whether it’s from natural causes or a homicide or suicide or accident — can prompt a police investigation or mean there won’t be one.
Besides failing to determine that the man found in the South Side fire was a homicide victim, Arunkumar’s staff found that Cavanaugh reached erroneous conclusions in cases involving:
• A 20-year-old man fatally shot last September at an apartment near 62nd and Artesian. Cavanaugh concluded the man shot himself in the head. Another Cook County pathologist, Dr. Adrienne Segovia, revised the manner of death to “undetermined” because another man had been seen with the handgun in the apartment and now can’t be found.
• A 2-year-old boy who collapsed in February 2017 at an apartment in the 1700 block of Juneway Terrace. Cavanaugh found the boy died from natural causes due to “anoxic encephalopathy with bilateral lobar pneumonia.’’ Segovia ruled the cause of death undetermined because there was “no clear cause for his abrupt collapse and extensive brain damage,” and there were “contradicting stories regarding who he was with at the time of his collapse.” She also noted that the boy had “unexplained bruising to the mid and left forehead, lateral to the left eye and on the abdomen” — marks that “are not expected in the course of routine resuscitation.”
• A 58-year-old man who was found unresponsive sitting in a kitchen chair at his Skokie home last October. Cavanaugh listed the cause of death as “mixed medication toxicity” but ruled the manner of death was undetermined. Segovia changed that finding, saying it was a natural death, finding the man died from “hypertensive cardiovascular disease” following surgery for a herniated disc.
Arunkumar says the changed rulings aren’t just a difference of opinion, saying Cavanaugh’s work “did not meet our quality assurance standards.”
Arunkumar says it’s imperative “someone’s skill sets fit” with such “a busy office” and that she believed Cavanaugh’s did when she hired him.
Cavanaugh, 60, who lives in Crown Point, Indiana, works for the coroner’s office in Indianapolis — where Arunkumar had allowed him to work part-time during his time in Cook County. He estimates he’s handled 5,000 autopsies over a two-decade career as a pathologist.
Cavanaugh says the problems that led to his firing were “not so much over the autopsies as it’s the reports.” He says that was largely because he wasn’t used to the office’s computer system, which he says was glitchy.
He says he quickly realized the Cook County job wasn’t for him, as he had to deal with union issues involving outsourcing of the agency’s toxicology laboratory, for instance, and “a revolving door” with staff quitting.
“It was more of a culture thing,” Cavanaugh says. “I was out of my comfort zone.”
Of his demotion to a regular pathologist’s post after several months, which reduced his salary by nearly $22,000, he says “they didn’t so much demote me as I asked to be demoted” to get away from bureaucratic duties and get “back in the morgue and doing autopsies.”
A county spokeswoman says Cavanaugh “accepted a demotion” during a meeting to “discuss his job performance.”
Cavanaugh acknowledges being slower than required. “I’d go over the 90-day limit,” he says. “There’s really no excuse for that.”
According to records on Cavanaugh’s autopsy of the man found in the fire last October, he missed key wounds that showed the death was a homicide.
The man — his name is still a mystery — died from “multiple injuries due to an assault,” the medical examiner’s officer later determined, “amending” the finding so the case is designated a homicide and must be investigated by the Chicago police.
There were “sharp force” injuries to the “right lower neck/upper chest” and “right upper chest,” according to records that also show:
• A “possible sharp force injury” on the left side of the chest.
• “Possible blunt force” to the right side of the forehead and a wound near the left jaw and upper neck.
• “A slanting gaping sharp force wound with jagged margins.”
• And a “sharp force wound” on the man’s left palm.
Cavanaugh won’t discuss that or any other case. But he says ruling the cause and manner as “undetermined” is “leaving the door open” to a later, more decisive ruling, “it’s a placeholder.”
That’s not true, according to the county spokeswoman, who says such cases are supposed to be ruled “pending” and that an “undetermined” ruling means a pathologist couldn’t make a determination.
“Nobody’s perfect,” Cavanaugh says. “But I’ve got the bugs worked out — except for the computers.”
Arunkumar says she has reported Cavanaugh to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which licenses and disciplines doctors. Officials there won’t say whether they’re investigating. (LINK)—5/25/2018
Doctor fired by Cook County medical examiner now under the microscope in Indiana
A onetime high-ranking doctor in the Cook County medical examiner’s office who was fired after an internal review found he botched autopsies — including one in which he failed “to recognize a homicide” — now is facing scrutiny at his job with the coroner’s office in Indianapolis.
The chief forensic pathologist with the Marion County, Indiana, coroner’s office has asked Dr. John E. Cavanaugh’s former bosses in Chicago for details about what led them to boot him and to file a complaint about him with Illinois regulators, records show.
“I am requesting a copy of the letter regarding Dr. Cavanaugh that was prepared for the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation,” Dr. Christopher Poulos wrote Cook County officials on May 30.
That was three days after the Chicago Sun-Times reported Cavanaugh had been fired in November and that his former boss Dr. Ponni Arunkumar, Cook County’s chief medical examiner, had filed the complaint against him.
“Additionally, I am requesting copies of Dr. Cavanaugh’s autopsy reports that have been amended,” Poulos wrote. “This information will help the operations of the Marion County coroner’s office and allow us to better serve the public.”
Arunkumar’s office provided the Indiana coroner with records from 17 autopsies — including one of a man Cavanaugh found had “no clear evidence of trauma” even though the medical examiner’s office says he had numerous wounds from an assault.
Cavanaugh ruled that death “undetermined.” Another pathologist reexamined the case and ruled it a homicide, finding Cavanaugh had made numerous errors.
Cavanaugh didn’t return a call seeking comment. Previously, he told the Sun-Times that mistakes he made generally were minor, often involving his inability to master Cook County’s computer system.
Poulos and other Marion County officials would not comment about Cavanaugh, who began working as a pathologist for that agency in 2009. Cavanaugh continued to work weekends for the Marion County coroner during the 10 months he also worked for the Cook County medical examiner, where Arunkumar hired him as her top deputy, then demoted him after five months before later firing him.
In June, an Indianapolis television station reported that police have asked the Marion County coroner to review Cavanaugh’s autopsy finding in the case of an Indiana woman whose death he ruled was “undetermined” though she had head-to-toe injuries and brain trauma. WTHR-13 also reported that Marion County is now “reviewing all of Dr. Cavanaugh’s homicide cases from over the past year” — a step taken after the Sun-Times’ May 27 report.
Dr. Ponni Arunkumar, Cook County’s chief medical examiner. | Ashlee Rezin / Sun-Times
Officials with the Illinois’ Department of Financial and Professional Regulation — which licenses doctors and can discipline them — would not comment.
“So far, multiple possible violations of professional conduct and deviations from the standards of practice within individual cases, as well as a pattern and practice from case-to-case of professional misconduct, gross incompetence, and a failure to provide appropriate and/or required documentation have been identified,” according to the March 12 letter Arunkumar sent the state agency.
The letter says Cavanaugh’s cases involved “failure to document injuries,” “failure to document portions of an examination,” “issuing reports in which the cause of death on the report does not correspond to the state of Illinois death certificate” and “failure to properly document specimens collected at the time of examination.”
The son of a doctor, Cavanaugh, 60, grew up in Libertyville and now lives in Crown Point, Ind., where he worked for the Lake County, Indiana, coroner’s office from February 2003 until the summer of 2015, when he stopped getting work under his month-to-month contract. His relationship with Coroner Merrilee Frey ended a few months after the Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana reported Cavanaugh had performed autopsies and testified in criminal trials while his Indiana physician’s license was suspended for a year over his failure to pay state taxes.
Frey wouldn’t discuss why Cavanaugh stopped working for her or whether she would review the autopsies he did for the Lake County coroner’s office, only that, “The Lake County coroner’s office has a quality assurance process which allows for case review on all cases including homicides, suicides and accidents.”
It’s unclear whether Cook County officials knew about Cavanaugh’s tax or licensing problems in Indiana when he was hired in October 2016 to be Arunkumar’s chief deputy at a salary of $250,000. He couldn’t start work until state regulators issued him an Illinois medical license in February 2017.
After five months, Arunkumar demoted Cavanaugh to assistant medical examiner — the job he had when the medical examiner says her staff discovered errors in his reports last October. He was fired Nov. 30. (LINK)—7/15/2018
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