of guilty of ‘Negligent Homicide.’ The note did not say much as neither the judge nor the D.A. had said much else. It promised to bring to the reader more information when that was made available.
When Tony came home two hours later, he found it empty. His home had been for several months occupied during the day by his infant daughter and a nanny. Now his wife was not there either though she normally worked just mornings in a local clinic as a secretary and one would have expected her to be at home in the afternoon… Their marriage had had some ups and downs early on, but it seemed to have improved after the arrival of their daughter. Now he feared that on top of and after the unbearable ordeal of losing her, Patty might just leave him. He sensed that she could not stand the sight of him close by, not in bed and perhaps not around him at all…
That afternoon the bell rang. A post-woman at the door requested his signature as she gave him the feared, green-banded, certified envelope from the State Health Department stamped in the Capital. It notified him of his license being suspended as of the day of his (initial) ‘guilty verdict’. He had been told by his colleagues that THAT would happen right after the verdict and that THEY at the Capital were following his case very closely. They, at OPC, had their own doctors and lawyers examining his case when they heard of his release, and they would come to their own decision, regardless of his case in the Supreme Court and possibly in spite of it if -even if ‘unlikely,’ they anticipated- he happened later to be cleared completely of wrong doing.
Along with the suspension, the letter told him to surrender to their local state office of OPC his Medical Diploma to practice in the state and his current three year registration card. Though he had renewed his license and prepaid for the 3 year registration just two months earlier, he would never be refunded for the approximately 34 remaining months when he could not practice. Thieves! he would call them later when after he requested a refund, it was denied. ‘We never refund for unused months’ they told him when he asked for it, even though he made it clear to them that other state departments, like the DMV, do make such refunds for instance for the remainder of the registration fee of cars when they are sold. No use.
With the cancelation of his conviction by the State Supreme Court, Dr. Lennox expected to have also his medical license suspension reversed. But this did not happen. He was going to call them but his lawyer insisted:
“Let ME call them. Perhaps I’ll be able to talk them. It seems to me that it is the right thing to do now that you are no longer a convict.”
So he called the state Capital. But they did not budge! They told him:
“We have our own medical experts, lawyers and judges to examine his case. In the next four weeks you will have our decision. It may not necessarily agree with your local Court to clear him 100%. Even if they do not find evidence to uphold the guilty conviction, they may still find some negligence enough to impose on him some sort of sanction and restrictions to his practice. For now he has no license at all.”
Dr. Lennox and his lawyer were shocked by what they were told. There it was, a real tragedy, it seemed, and there was nothing they could do at that point to influence the Medical Board one way or another. He could not bring to their attention Dr. Newman or Dr. Elan, and probably not Dr. Nora Phillips either -herself being investigated by them-. It would be all unilateral… A double whammy! First the sad, horrible loss of my daughter; now the loss of my license, of my livelihood!
Some three weeks after that, he got from The Capital the official written reply of the Medical Board to his request for the return of his license:
“The suspension of your license will remain in effect for a full six (6) months from the day of your conviction even if such has been reversed. The Board has examined all the documents the D.A. had and still finds you careless and negligent for not having taken your daughter to the ER immediately after she fell (even believing, as you claimed, that she just slipped off your hands).
“At the end of the six months, you may write to us to request the return of your license and we will go from there. It is possible that at that point the Board may impose additional restrictions, such as a limited license to practice medicine under some supervision and probation, for a given period of time.
“This decision is final. You may wish to appeal it to the Board if you wish, but understanding that with inherent formalities, paper work and the usual delays, you may not gain that much time, even if the Board agrees then to shorten the stated sanction.”
“Wow!” said his lawyer. “I guess they have you trapped. And it does not seem fair… I could appeal for you such decision to one of the State Court of Appeals. But my services will cost you, and again, you may not save that much time…”
“Let me think about it,” said Dr. Lennox. “Perhaps if we appeal it -accepting the six month sanction without fighting them, courteously- I may be able to eliminate ‘the sequel,’ the probationary license with limitations they may impose after that…”
Following that conversation with his up-to-that-point lawyer, Dr. Lennox called her friend Dr. Barbara Good, told her about his conversation with his lawyer and where he stood with the State Health Department and asked her to have a coffee with him. She was delighted to hear in person from him and quickly accepted. She told him that she would also try to bring along Dr. Nora Phillips if it was OK with him.
“Yes. Thank you very much, he said.” Tomorrow for lunch?
“OK. I’ll be there, with our also beleaguered Nora at least!”
The next day, Dr. Tony Lennox sat alone for a coffee at 11 o’clock, in a quiet booth at a corner in the nearby quiet diner The Dark Chocolate. With the two certified letters from the Medical Board in his pocket, he waited for his friends to join him at some point over the next hour. At 11:40, he was surprised to see not only the two women, but also Judge Kenneth Good who arrived on their heels. His wife Barbara had told him the previous night about the lunch meeting with Tony. The judge, without having to ask, immediately volunteered, assuring his wife that he would join the group without waiting for her to invite him – or to object to his coming. HE wanted to know first hand where things stood with the poor doctor whose deeply sad and undeserved sentence had just been magnified by the State Medical Board.
After the initial greeting and having ordered lunch, judge Good jumped into the topic before anybody else had started with pleasantries.
“So Tony, I guess the guilty verdict is definitely gone and that you are in the clear from the criminal stand point. But let’s talk now about the ramifications I hear through Barbara, with the Health Department.”
“Thanks for asking, judge. It’s a mess! They’ve taken my license even if your court has let me go free & innocent. I was going to be suspended for two full years, but since you cleared me of the guilty verdict, they have reduced it to 6 months; months then to be followed, they say, by a provisional license to practice under supervision under as yet unspecified conditions for as yet an unspecified length of time.”
“Damn!” said the judge. “I expected that much. Those wolves! If my court has not indicted you, what business do they have to ruin your life, your professional career with that nasty ‘suspension’ even if for a short time? It will stay in your file -and on their web site- and ruin your reputation… probably for ever!”
“And now you know, judge,” said Nora Phillips “what I am myself up against if they get their hand on ALL my records as they are demanding, without accepting the opinion of my impartial experts that also clear me; they have no justification for it!… For sure I will also be sacked. If they go nit picking on all my records they are bound to find something that suits their charging me with something!”
“Yes, they will do the same thing to you, Nora if you stay in this State. This is why I suggested that you get out of here as fast as you can before you are due in front of the other judge. And he is not likely to allow you more delays.”
“Why is there no impartiality?” asked Barbara to her husband. “Does it happen that way, OPC bullying ALL cases of professional conduct without impartiality?”
“I