Patient Safety | 09.01.19
Former Arkansas VA Doctor Charged in Deaths of Three Patients
by NAMSS Staff
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (08/20/19) Thompson, Doug
Dr. Robert Morris Levy, who formerly worked as a pathologist at the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks, has been charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter relating to the deaths of three patients. Levy also faces four counts of making false statements, 12 counts of wire fraud, and 12 counts of mail fraud. After Levy was fired, hospital officials conducted an analysis of his work and found that he had over 3,000 missed diagnoses. At least 30 of those missed diagnoses posed serious health risks to the patients. Dak Kees, U.S. attorney for the western district of Arkansas, said that three of Levy's incorrect or misleading diagnoses directly led to the death of the patient. Kees further alleged that in two of those cases, Levy falsified the patients' medical records to say a second pathologist had agreed with his diagnosis. Levy faced multiple suspensions for working while impaired before eventually being fired in April 2018.
Read the full article on the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.