Death House: The True Story of an American Community Hospital and Its Physicians Who Murder for Money

All Rights Reserved © 2001 by Larry R. Leichter

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publisher.

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Contents

Introduction 2001

Introduction 2000

Introduction 1992

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Appendix A Letter of Introduction

Appendix B Proposal

Appendix C More Fraud

A STORY THAT MUST BE TOLD

MARC ROHR, J.D., Harvard Law School PROFESSOR OF LAW SHEPARD BROAD LAW CENTER

TO ALL THOSE HARD WORKING, DEDICATED, CONCERNED, HONEST PHYSICIANS WHO ARE NOT THE SUBJECT OF THIS BOOK, TO YOU I SAY, SORRY, YOUR MOST HONORED PROFESSION HAS BEEN SO CORRUPTED BY THOSE THAT ARE.

TO MY SON JEFF, WHO’S PURSUING A CAREER IN THAT MOST NOBLE PROFESSION. THANKS FOR BEING ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS.

Introduction 2001

In 1992 I wrote the original outline for this book. In 2001, I updated it and added an introduction having absolutely nothing to do with the material in the book. I published the book on the iUniverse site, then removed it because my wife was afraid a lot of what I had written in the book was defamatory. Because of her concerns, I gave the book, in its original form, to a former constitutional law professor of mine who has become my friend. He read the book with interest, telling me it is a story that must be told. However, he criticized my use of foul language that he said was not necessary in getting my point across. He said it detracted from what really needed telling. He also cautioned me that there was some potentially defamatory material in the book. He did say that if everything I wrote about was true, the law is on my side. However, he stressed the need to tone down the vulgarities, profanities, and overall angry demeanor of my prose.

Therefore, I have re-written DEATH HOUSE. I have even removed the location of the hospital in question, replacing it with the word American. For DEATH HOUSE is an American hospital. It’s my hospital; it’s your hospital. I have also removed that part of the book that relates to my personal story. Though of interest to me, and though writing about what happened to me helped me vent some of my own frustrations, it really has nothing to do with what I want to inform you, the reader.

And what do I want to tell the reader? I want to tell you about a small fraction of doctors, men and women (but for the greater part men). These physicians, and on occasion the nurses who assist them, have taken an oath. They have pledged to do whatever is in their power to help save our lives. And they are doing no such thing. Perhaps it is no more than 10% of these highly educated people who are responsible for this travesty. But this 10% has caused devastating horrors to our population.

There have been reports that nearly 100,000 Americans die each year in our hospitals as a result of medical mistakes. The number has been debated to as little as 10,000 and to as many as 200,000. However, medical mistakes are not the subject of this book. We all make mistakes. Doctors, being human, make mistakes as well. Yes, people die as a result of these mistakes. But unfortunately, people are always dying because of mistakes. An air traffic controller’s mistake can lead to the deaths of hundreds. A lapse in our intelligence network can lead to the deaths of thousands. We will always be at the mercy of mistakes.

But that is not why I have written this book. DEATH HOUSE is not about mistakes. It is about wanton malicious acts perpetrated by doctors, and on occasion the nurses who assist them. And what is it that these doctors are doing? They are performing surgeries and procedures that are not necessary, ordering tests that need not be done, and not doing the right thing for their patients when it is inconvenient for them to do so. Remember, acts of omission that do not help us are just as bad as evil acts that harm us. And why are these physicians, for the most part well educated and highly trained, behaving in such a manner? The simple answer, in one word: MONEY. Doctors, and as I said, men mostly, are murdering their patients for money. Though perhaps only 10% are responsible, this amounts to over 60,000 physicians!

And that is why I have decided to re-write this book. In its original form it was nearly 500 pages. Most of the excess will be eliminated so that I can concentrate on that which is most important to tell you. Each chapter will discuss a particular incident that has led to a patient’s harm or death. There will be no physicians’ names mentioned in this book. I will refer to all doctors using such non descript letters as Q, U, V, W, X, Y, and

Z. These letters will be used interchangeably so that they represent more than one physician. The same physician will be represented by different letters in different chapters and the same letter will represent different

physicians in different chapters. This is being done to assure their anonymity. I will try not to confuse you with these letters. What is most significant here is not who these doctors are, but what their acts represent. The patients will be represented by first names and last name initial only. At first I was going to limit the patients to just first and last initials. However, with all these letters floating around, it is my opinion, more confusion would be added than is necessary. Most of these patients are dead, killed by their not so well intentioned doctors. So first names will be used. But more often than not, the first names will be fictitious. It is not necessary to know who these people are. Only their stories must be told.

You, the reader must learn from these anecdotes so what has happened to these people never happens to you.

Just as we all fear outside terrorist acts and what can happen to us if biological or chemical agents were let loose on our citizens, we must also be concerned about the enemies, which spring from our own society. Just as we fear and have become more wary of those trained in clandestine camps in far away lands, who would infiltrate our free society and do us harm, so must we fear and become wary of those trained at our own medical schools. There is an evil among us that we do not recognize. There are no CIA or FBI agents looking for this evil. There are no Delta Force, Green Berets or Seals seeking out and searching to destroy this evil. For no one knows this evil even exists. But I do. I have seen it first hand. I have witnessed it, yet I have been powerless to do anything about it. I tried, but failed.

That is why I have written this book. That is why this story must not only be told, it must be read, believed, and acted upon by those who read it. Doctors, who have direct control of our lives, and whose greed precludes all else, are killing us, their patients, you and me, our families and our loved ones. They do not see us as human beings needing their help. They see us merely as dollar signs. They see us as a means to their new Mercedes SL coupe with retractable roof and their 8000 square foot estate home on two acres of land.

These doctors must be stopped. In the pages that follow I have totally re-written the original version, but the major premise for this book will remain intact. By employing anecdotes representing true events, I will first tell you what these doctors have done, and in the last chapter, I will then tell you how you, your friends, and your loved ones can best avoid coming into their evil clutches.

Larry R. Leichter, MD, JD

October, 2001

Introduction 2000

In 1992 I outlined a treatise regarding the practice of medicine at a local community hospital. Actually this fictional medical center, which I call DEATH HOUSE, is a combination of six hospitals located somewhere in the United States of America. I had the misfortune to have done consultative work at these hospitals. During a twelve year period between 1979 and 1991, I practiced at these hospitals and witnessed unspeakable horrors. I decided to chronicle these events in the form of a book with the above title. Submitting my outline to publishers and agents, I received a collective refusal because what I said could not be true. In no way could these horrible things be happening in any upscale, suburban community hospital. They thought I was crazy, insane, or in possession of a vivid imagination.

Subsequent to 1992, there have been a lot of articles printed and books written regarding so-called medical mistakes. Medical mistakes have been occurring as long as there has been the practice of medicine. Modern technology has not led to an end to them, only better ways of covering them up.

But that is not what this book is all about, and actually represents only a small fraction of the problem in medicine today. This is not a book about unavoidable errors doctors and nurses commit in their every day pursuit of patient care. It is also, for the most part, not a book about avoidable errors either. Mistakes happen, for we are human. There are hundreds of thousands of dedicated medical personnel who try their best, whose intentions are good, but they still make mistakes. A recent report said 98,000 people died in U.S. hospitals in one year due to these mistakes. And that is but the tip of the iceberg because there are probably five times that number of patient deaths in our inner city hospitals, our training institutions where young doctors and medical students are taught the science and art of being doctors. They have to learn somewhere, and as sad as it is, there is a learning curve and people die so doctors can learn.

But again, that is not what this book is about. It is not about inner city hospitals affiliated with medical schools, where students, interns and residents learn their craft. It is not about private hospitals where mistakes, and what I mean here are honest, unavoidable, and sometimes avoidable mistakes, are made because that has been done, and in the last five years, it has been done and done and redone. In fact, I would like to regress for a moment in order to hammer this point home.

In October, 2000, a newspaper ran a series they titled Death in Vain in which medical mistakes are described. They speak of the horrors of these mistakes, the devastation to the families, and how many of them could have been prevented, especially if doctors communicated with other doctors and they all learned from these mistakes. Communication is a good thing and that is exactly what does happen at university affiliated institutions so physicians in training can learn from their mistakes. In private institutions, the fear of law suits and discipline by medical boards makes open communication less likely. Again, the key word here is MISTAKE. I can not stress enough that mistakes do happen, it is sad that they do, but that is a fact of life.

One such story in the newspaper article focused on a physician, someone I did know while I was in practice, because he is a gastroenterologist, as was I. The story, entitled, Mistakes take toll on doctors, too was about a man I will refer to as Dr. X. I must also digress at this time to remind you that I will be referring to all doctors as Drs. X, Y, or Z. Each chapter will deal with different doctors, notwithstanding I repeat the same letters over and over again. Please don’t think it is the same three doctors. For this book represents scores of doctors from my community. And these scores represent thousands of doctors who practice throughout our great nation.

According to the article, Dr. X mistakenly diagnosed an infection in the esophagus (feeding tube) as cancer, thereby recommending to the surgeon to remove the entire feeding tube and replace it with a part of the large intestine. This is something that is not uncommonly performed, however, this particular surgeon never performed the operation before. The patient died as a result of the surgery, which was not necessary because the benign condition could have been treated with medication. At the malpractice trial that followed, in which $5.5 million was awarded the family, Dr. X was found 60% liable, the surgeon 10%.

What I fail to understand is when the surgeon saw the abnormal region was not cancer, why did he continue the operation? Why didn’t he reverse what had been done? Why was he performing this operation for the first time without another more experienced surgeon assisting him? Why was he selected as the surgeon to perform this operation? Did Dr. X choose him? Or was he picked by the patient’s primary doctor, the person who had referred the patient to Dr. X? And if the latter was the case, why did the referring physician pick this particular surgeon? Did he (or she) owe the man a favor? Had the surgeon sent him a patient and this was payback? Had the surgeon treated him to dinner? Had the surgeon offered him a kickback? Who knows why this surgeon was selected. What we do know is this surgeon was not selected because of his surgical ability. Remember, this was the first time he was performing this operation, one stated in the newspaper article to last ten hours. Sure there’s always a first time, but that should be in training, when the professor is there to assist and teach. Why didn’t this surgeon ask a professor from the nearby medical university to come assist? Was it because he did not want to share his fee?

Did the jury that put the bulk of the blame on Dr. X and only 10% of it on the surgeon ask or know the answer to any of these questions? Would these questions even be admissible in a court of law? As an attorney, I can tell you most, if not all of them would not be admissible. So the men and women of the jury would never have learned the real story. To them, Dr. X would have been the one painted as the monster, when in reality, the real monster was most probably the surgeon. For Dr. X only made a mistake. A terrible mistake? Yes. Preventable? Maybe. But an honest mistake that happens every day in the practice of medicine. Did the patient die because of that mistake? The official record would be that he did. But he shouldn’t have. I can say, not with certainty, but with a reasonable degree of probability, that the honest mistake made by Dr. X should not have caused the death of the patient.

Go back and reread all the questions I asked regarding the surgeon. Answers to these questions would most likely hold the key to what caused the death of the patient, a man with a wife and son and a full life he should have lived. And one more question could be asked. Was that man, the patient with a benign condition of the esophagus, mistakenly diagnosed by Dr. X, murdered for money? Just look at several of those questions. If any of the answers are as follows: The surgeon was owed a favor so that is why he was selected to perform the surgery. The referring doctor wanted a return favor from the surgeon so that is why he picked him. The surgeon wanted to bill for the more expensive operation, so that is why he did not stop and instead took out a benign esophagus. The surgeon did not want to split his fee, but keep all the money for himself, so that is why he did not have someone with more experience assisting him. So you see, Dr. X may have made a mistake, but if what I believe really happened is true, it is the surgeon who killed the patient so he could make more money.

That is just one example of what I call murdering for money and that happens every single day. I can not say for certain whether that was the case here because I do not know all the facts, and I only have this newspaper article to provide me with the facts I do have. Also, I do not know the answers to the questions I ask. The true answers may show the surgeon was innocent and merely made a mistake as well. Or perhaps Dr. X was responsible for selecting this surgeon. I just don’t know. I was not there. But I was there between 1979 and 1991. And what I saw during that time period, what I wrote down in 1992, and will transcribe now, including the anecdotes that compose a segment of each of the chapters of this book, I know to be true. And I also know it’s still happening, just like I hypothesize in the Dr. X case, which occurred as recently as December,1999!

As I said, mistakes are a sad reality, and cover-ups of those mistakes make it difficult for other doctors to learn from them. But that is not what I am writing about in this book, although mistakes will come up, but only those that could have been avoided if the doctor had gone the extra foot, not even mile. Again, I do not consider unavoidable mistakes an issue here. Human beings can make mistakes, and doctors are human beings. But there are mistakes and then there are mistakes, just as there is negligence that causes harm and there is negligent homicide. This book is not about negligence that causes harm, and though situations of negligent and reckless homicide brought about by doctors will be added for completeness sake, the main thrust of death House is about so much more than that, as horrible as are these latter two terms.

What Death House is about, is murder. The wholesale killing of the citizens of this country for profit. This book is about doctors, those who swore an oath to do no harm, purposely doing harm, purposely mutilating their patients, harming their patients, and yes, killing their patients, for the sole purpose of lining their pocketbooks.

When I first wrote this book in 1992, there was no HMO problem in America. Most doctors did not know what managed care was. Since then HMOs have grown to involve every state, and the problem known as managed care, which doctors sarcastically refer to as managed money, because there is no care, is growing. The fact is, doctors are making less money. Medicare payments are down, insurance payments are down, and with HMOs setting their fees, doctors are earning less and less for their operations and procedures. As costs rise, and overhead rises, and with gross income falling, doctors have become desperate. The only way to offset this reality and maintain their high standard of living is to do more operations and procedures, to look for ways to do more operations and procedures, and to put their patients in harms way while they create methods to earn more money.

That is what this book is about. It is a warning to all you people out there that however this started, whatever caused doctors to go bad, whether it was the HMO managed care problem, or the government’s meddling in their affairs by writing more burdensome laws and creating more rules. Whatever it was, many of the doctors out there practicing medicine and surgery are murdering their patients for money, are murdering you for money.

What I have done at this time is rewrite DEATH HOUSE as it appeared in 1992 with certain editorial updates. And I have re-written it again, even now. It will include the original introduction as well as the introductory letter, which I first sent when seeking an agent and publisher. The truth is, these stories which make up the original book have not changed. They all happened between 1979 and 1991. The year 1991 was when I was forced to stop practicing medicine because some of the doctors who murder for money came after me, accused me of wrongdoing without foundation, and hired a hit man to criticize my work and say patients got better in spite of me. They admitted my patients got better, which they did, due to my relentless dedication and hard work, yet they had the gall to say my patients got better in spite of me!

Some might suggest the expose of these doctors and others like them, is sour grapes. They did me wrong, so I’m getting back at them. That’s especially what these doctors who murder for money would say. But I don’t care what anyone says because I know this is the truth. I know this happened because I either saw it with my own two eyes, or these events were told to me by reputable nurses with no reason to lie. They weren’t getting anything for these stories, and they would never admit to them if asked. But these stories must be told and they will be told in the anecdotes and summations that follow in this book. My practice may have been destroyed, but the practice of medicine is worth saving, for there are still so many good guys out there, good doctors who really care.

Unfortunately, too many doctors treating your parents, your children, your brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and friends, are killing them for money, to line their pockets so they can have their fancy cars and fancy homes, and country club lifestyle. These things cost money, money that is hard to come by with managed care in control. So how do doctors get around it? Read on and you will learn. I only hope it’s not too late to stop them. And you can stop them from killing your loved ones and yourselves. You can stop them by educating yourselves to what they are doing, by seeking out doctors who don‘t do these things, and by reporting doctors who do. They should be tried for murder, at least second-degree murder, because that is what this is. These are not innocent mistakes, or accidents due to negligence that I am writing about. These are not even reckless acts, which do occur as well. These are willful and wanton acts of mayhem, egregious acts against the public that must be stopped!

Larry R. Leichter, MD, JD.

October, 2000 (Edited October, 2001)

Introduction 1992

What follows is the introduction to the original proposed DEATH HOUSE: The Story of an American Community Hospital and its Physicians who Murder for Money.

Mommy, my belly hurts. Those words spoken by Billy T. on a hot July afternoon prompted his mother to rush him to the emergency room of the local community hospital. He had been running a fever and had not been eating that well for the past several days, but now she was really concerned. The only problem: Billy’s mother took him to DEATH HOUSE. Little did she know that her only child would be dead before the sun set that evening.

Billy was triaged to room number one. That’s when a nurse in the waiting area quickly evaluates a patient and decides if the problem is medical or surgical, urgent or routine, serious or nor serious. Billy, being a ten-year-old child, was brought right in. This might impress you, but considering the emergency room was empty, it was to be expected. The emergency room physician asked Billy’s mom and Billy some questions, then proceeded to examine Billy and order blood tests and X-rays. The surgeon assigned to cover the emergency room that day was then called.

As I said, it was July, and many of the locals were out of town. Things were quiet, and the surgeon, a former chief of surgery at Death House, had not been doing much surgery lately. Billy did have a somewhat painful belly. He had a low-grade fever and his white blood cell count was elevated, slightly, but it was elevated. Even though the clinical evidence was flimsy, the surgeon decided Billy was suffering from acute appendicitis and scheduled Billy for surgery that afternoon. Billy’s mother was fully explained the procedure, why it was being done, and the risks involved. The surgeon knew all the rules.

While Billy’s mom sat in the waiting room, and his father rushed home from work, young Billy’s belly was cleansed and he was draped on the operating room table.

Scalpel, was the surgeon’s first word. As the instrument was deftly placed in his hand he began making the first incision in the lower right quadrant of Billy’s thin smooth skinned abdomen.

Here’s the appendix, the surgeon said as he freed the bowel appendage.

It doesn’t look bad at all, remarked the nurse assistant.

We’ll remove it anyway. And he began clamping it off.

Doctor! shouted the nurse anesthetist. (Many simple cases do not require a physician anesthesiologist being present.) I’m noticing an irregular heart beat. How much longer?

We’re almost done. The surgeon sounded annoyed. First he was removing a normal appearing appendix, and now this. Nurse, he said as sweat started accumulating on his brow, we’ll close now.

Doctor! She sounded frantic. His heart stopped!

Do something! shouted the surgeon.

Call a code! It was the scrub nurse, the assistant handing instruments to the surgeon who called to the circulating nurse, the one providing the needed materials.

Soon the operating room was filled with hospital personnel and equipment. As Billy’s parents sat unknowingly in the waiting lounge, numerous physicians and nurses fought a losing battle trying to stimulate Billy’s heart into beating. Billy died that hot July day. Billy’s parents could not understand why. Upon learning that Billy’s appendix was normal, and that he had been suffering from mesenteric adenitis, a long word for intestinal flu, Billy’s parents could not comprehend why this had happened. With rest, acetaminophen, and clear liquids, he would have been better within the week.

I know why Billy died. Billy was murdered by the surgeon, a one time chief of surgery at DEATH HOUSE. Billy did not have, what is called in medical terms, a surgical abdomen. Would it have been wrong to wait and see what developed? Would it have been wrong to observe the child overnight, to determine if the clinical signs became more impressive? Of course not. Billy was taken to the operating room because the surgeon had nothing else to do, because he was bored, because it was July and things were slow. Billy was hastened to the operating room so that the surgeon could bill his parent’s insurance company $1000 for the operation. Billy was MURDERED FOR MONEY.

There is no way to put this gently. A ten-year-old boy died because the surgeon wanted to make the extra money, and knew if he waited Billy would improve and the surgery would not be needed. His parents lost their only child. They would spend the rest of their lives grieving and asking God why this happened, while the surgeon would drive his Mercedes 500SL to the country club the next day and play a round of golf, as if nothing had happened, his $1000 fee for the surgery going towards paying the monthly lease bill. This DEATH HOUSE surgeon MURDERED FOR MONEY, then went about his routine without giving it a second thought, that is until Billy’s parents sued. He got out of this as well, but that’s another story which I will discuss later.*

How much is a human life worth? How much is your life worth? Of course, if you hold title to a large life insurance policy, your life could be worth millions, but to whom? What I am really asking is, how much is your life worth to you?

Though what you will read and discover in the chapters that follow has never been written before, I must at this time repeat a basic concept that needs to be understood by the average American. I should really say average American consumer. Your body is all you have. Your brain, persona, psyche, self, or soul, whatever you wish to call it, everything that makes you, you, is trapped in this body. If this body is damaged, you, as an entity, suffer, and if this body is destroyed, ceases to exist, then so do you.

It would be nice to believe there is an afterlife, or another being that your entity becomes. I have no intention to debate these philosophical ideas, or any religious or metaphysical perceptions. This book will deal in fact only. The hard, cruel fact of life is, when it ends, we have absolutely no conception of what happens. Neither science, nor religion can really and truthfully answer that question. There is no proof to any of our theories or assumptions about what occurs after death. I once was told that when we die, it’s the same as it was before we were born. If that type of existence, nothingness, is okay with you, then don’t read further. If you value your life, and want to stick around as long as possible, then please continue.

To repeat, how much is your life worth to you? As a person of average or above average intelligence, you probably don’t just buy a high priced item the same way you buy a candy bar or box of toothpicks. (Although I’m certain some of you do). As the American consumer that you are, you comparison shop. You do some kind of research, whether it’s reading consumer magazines, or speaking to friends. For instance, when buying a stereo or video system, you’ve either observed its performance at a friend or neighbor’s residence, or you have listened to the pitch of the equipment and the salesperson ad infinitum. I have witnessed firsthand the process of selecting a college, and it’s unbelievable how much research goes on. As parents, many of you fly your children around and across the country, some spending thousands of dollars. You purchase book, after how to, best buy book for advice, accomplishing and learning little. To top it off, it turns out that most of the kids are happy and adjust wherever they end up. Before buying an automobile, you not only care about the beauty of the machine, but also its safety record. Air bags and anti-lock breaking systems are all the rage. You test drive the vehicle to see how it handles. Why do you spend so much time researching and testing? Because it may save your life, and most of you value your lives.

What do you really know about your physician or the hospital at which he or she practices? I know that question has been asked before in consumer oriented health guides, but it has never been answered. I’ll ask it again. What do you really know about your physician or the hospital at which he or she practices? Perhaps you’ve spoken to friends, and they were happy or unhappy with the service provided them. But what do they know? What makes them different than you? You’re all in the same boat. Even many physicians can’t answer the question. So how can you?

Perhaps you’ve read the consumer books that instruct you in how to select the best doctor, and how to avoid the common hazards once admitted to the hospital. Sad as it is for me to say, I’ll ask the same question. What do they know? Most of these books are not written by physicians. They are written by social workers, lawyers, businessmen, and even investigative reporters who speak to hospital administrators, physicians, nurses, and other hospital employees but must depend on what they are told. They haven’t the foggiest idea what is really going on either. So to the question, what do they know? The answer is, in the words of a famous television World War II vintage German sergeant, they know nothing.

The medical literature states that seventy percent of us get better without the help of a physician or a hospital. I’m afraid that statistic is incorrect because it does not take into account how many of us get worse with this help. It does not state how many of us die because of this help. The actual percentage could be much higher. There are many questions that need asking and answering. There are many problems that need correcting. I will ask and answer all the questions, the problems are another story. Although some of the answers involve change that may never occur in our lifetimes, the answers must be known to us all.

You must never let yourselves be admitted to a DEATH HOUSE. You must never allow yourselves to get into the hands of a physician who MURDERS FOR MONEY. And they are out there, believe me, it’s frightening. I was on staff at DEATH HOUSE for twelve years. DEATH HOUSE is not the huge impersonal inner city hospital. DEATH HOUSE is not the medical college affiliated hospital where interns and residents experiment on the homeless and indigent in our society. There have been many books written on this subject. Every ten years or so another one, including those written by these very interns and residents, pops up telling all about the goings on at these hospitals. It must be remembered, however, that these are learning institutions, and young sleep deprived doctors in training make mistakes. All doctors make mistakes. It’s unfortunate, but we live in a world where mistakes, honest mistakes, but mistakes nonetheless, are made that affect our lives. Not just in the medical fields, but in all aspects of our lives. Mistakes, however, need to be corrected, and these university affiliated hospitals wherein some of the best physicians in the nation practice are always seeking out their mistakes, bringing their mistakes out into the open, and trying in every way to correct them.

This book is NOT about these institutions. Although people die in these hospitals, some unfortunately by physician error, everything, at least for the most part, is out in the open. Cases are presented, discussed, and the house staff learns what they did wrong so it does not happen again; so it does not happen when they get out into the community; so it does not happen when they treat you and me out in the community.

There are approximately 8,000 hospitals in this nation of ours. I hate statistics and the only time I’ll bore you with them is in this introductory chapter. To continue, if we consider medical school affiliated teaching hospitals, military facilities, federal and state correctional institution hospitals, U.S. Public Health Service and Veterans Administration Hospitals, many of which are medical school related, (you get nothing for nothing), the grand total comes to under 500. That means the remainder of the hospitals, or medical centers, or regional medical centers, or whatever else they want to call themselves, are nothing more than 7,500 community hospitals. America is a land of communities, small towns, large towns, small cities, and moderate sized cities. And these communities are serviced by the community hospital, the place to which we go for various diagnostic tests and procedures, both as in and out patients, and the place to which we go when we’re too sick to be treated at home. Of these 7,500 community hospitals, how many of them can be labeled a DEATH HOUSE? Even if only one in five of our hospitals fall into this category, that totals 1,500 hospitals. Is there one in your town?

According to the American Medical Association, approximately 653,500 physicians are licensed to practice medicine in the United States of America. This is most likely an underestimation of the actual number. How many of these physicians work at a death house? How many of these physicians are politically powerful at DEATH HOUSE? How many of these physicians MURDER FOR MONEY? These two questions must be asked together, and must be answered for the two go hand in hand. Most physicians are good, decent, honest, caring individuals. But if only one in ten, only 10% represent physicians of whom I speak, we are dealing with close to 70,000 individuals. You must be able to weed out these physicians and these institutions in which they practice. You must avoid them like the plague, because it is a matter of life and death. It very well could be a matter of whether you live or whether you die.

I will reveal to you in the chapters that follow some of the stories that the DEATH HOUSE at which I was unfortunate to have practiced medicine and gastroenterology has hidden from the public. I will show you how to avoid the DOCTORS OF DEATH that control DEATH HOUSE and MURDER FOR MONEY. I am relating these stories neither for their shock value, nor to entertain you. I want to wake you up. America must wake up to what is happening at death houses, our local community hospitals, all across our nation. Physicians who come highly recommend, whom we respect, who are supposedly well trained, and who are killing us, must be stopped. But to stop them, we first have to recognize that there is a problem, that they are out there. And then we have to find them, and the Death Houses they control. We have to stop the killing!

In the United States, (I apologize for more statistics, but it will be the last time), out of 100,000 of us in population, close to 1,000 die each year. Translated to actual numbers it comes to over two million Americans each year. About 35% of these deaths are from heart-related disorders, another 22% from cancer, 7% from strokes, and 16% from other diseases.

AIDS and homicide related deaths are less than 2% of the total. The public outcry for AIDS research and gun control is significant, as well it should be. I’m not trying