Degrees Of Harm

The Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure has opened an investigation into whether a Magoffin County man who promoted online and foreign medical schools has broken any state laws, C. Lloyd Vest, an attorney for the board, said yesterday.

Stephen J. Arnett, currently under investigation for promoting online and foreign medical schools from Magoffin County, was recently given a license to practice as a surgical assistant in Kentucky.

When prosecutors here talked about the cruelty of John E. Curran, it was the face of Taylor Alves they saw. The young woman, who, at 18, was a filmmaker, photographer and model, was described by her mother as "born with wings." She was also dying of ovarian cancer.

No one knows how many "doctors" are practicing with a degree from one of the online medical schools that Stephen J. Arnett of Falcon, Ky., has operated or promoted over the years.

Andrew Michael was an imposter on a grand scale for years in Las Vegas — posing as a lawyer, a commercial jet pilot and a nursing student. In 2003, he was in Lexington, pursuing a new profession as a medical student at St. Luke School of Medicine, an online medical and naturopathy school with operations in Liberia, but no U.S. accreditation.

In 2004, 23-year-old Amanda Doumato went to the office of John Curran, where framed medical and naturopathy degrees hung on the wall, hoping he could suggest a diet that would help her with digestive problems.