http://http://www.kentucky.com/428/index.xml News, sports, and entertainment from Kentucky.com en-us Copyright 2008 Kentucky.com Degrees Of Harm 60 Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:14:40 EST http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's Workbench webmaster@kentucky.com http://www.kentucky.com/428/story/111322.html http://www.kentucky.com/428/story/111322.html Fri, 29 Jun 2007 14:27 EDT
Stephen J. Arnett, a former tombstone salesman and Free Will Baptist minister, promoted the St. Luke School of Medicine, an online school based in Liberia, from an address in Falcon, a small Magoffin County community, until 2003. He held key titles at the school, including vice president, and helped recruit students and place them in Kentucky hospitals and clinics.

Vest said board officials decided to launch a new investigation following a three-part series in the Herald-Leader and that the board would turn over any evidence to the appropriate authorities. The state attorney general's office also began investigating Arnett's involvement with the foreign school after a reporter called with questions.

The articles outlined how three men who have been convicted of practicing medicine without a license -- two in Kentucky and one in Rhode Island -- used their affiliation with St. Luke to treat patients or to study in clinical settings.

In the 1990s, Arnett owned and ran several Eastern Kentucky clinics.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/428/story/111333.html http://www.kentucky.com/428/story/111333.html Fri, 29 Jun 2007 14:34 EDT
The license allows him, while being supervised, to assist surgeons with opening and closing incisions and other procedures during surgery. It is not clear whether Arnett is actually working in that capacity. He indicated to the Board of Medical Licensure that he intended to start a surgical assistants company. Arnett was a key figure in Degrees of Harm, a Herald-Leader series in October, that examined his role in recruiting students to treat patients, study in clinical settings or receive online medical degrees. Three men Arnett was involved with have been convicted of practicing medicine without a license -- one in Kentucky, one in Nevada and one in Rhode Island.

In the past, Arnett has described himself as having medical degrees and other medical credentials that he did not have. He has been investigated by state and federal authorities, but has never been charged with any crime as a result of his medical activities. He is not licensed as a medical doctor in Kentucky or any other state.

Kentucky's Board of Medical Licensure denied Arnett a physician's assistant's license in 1988 and warned him not to "hold himself out" as one. The board investigated him in 1997 after a complaint that he was again working as a physician's assistant, but when the board shared the results with law enforcement officials, nothing was done.

C. Loyd Vest, an attorney for the medical board, said that Arnett was granted a surgical assistant's license in March.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/428/story/104053.html http://www.kentucky.com/428/story/104053.html Thu, 21 Jun 2007 15:54 EDT
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.

Curran, who billed himself as a natural healer and physician, told her he could make her healthy with a green drink, a concoction of powdered vegetables in water. The promise of recovery led her to spend her final weeks refusing other food.

"He did so much harm on so many levels," Rhonda Alves, Taylor's mother, said recently. "I don't blame John Curran for Taylor dying. What I blame John Curran for is the anguish he brought to her life."

In August, Curran, who charged most patients a standard fee of $10,000 for his treatments, was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison on charges of wire fraud and money laundering.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/428/story/104150.html http://www.kentucky.com/428/story/104150.html Thu, 21 Jun 2007 15:50 EDT
Even if someone did know, there's no agency in Kentucky that oversees the authenticity of online degrees. But three men who did seek medical diplomas online -- John Curran, Andrew Michael and Larry Lammers -- have been convicted of charges associated with practicing medicine without a license. Michael and Lammers, who both turned up in Lexington hospitals and clinics, served jail time. Curran was sentenced in August to 12 1/2 years in federal prison.

Over the last decade, local, state, and federal officials have all been aware of Arnett's medical activities, records show.

But no action was ever taken against him. Arnett has never been charged in connection with the schools.

Todd Leatherman, the executive director of consumer protection for the state Attorney General's office, said he was not aware of the Kentucky connection to the three convicted men until he was contacted by the Herald-Leader.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/428/story/107420.html http://www.kentucky.com/428/story/107420.html Mon, 25 Jun 2007 14:32 EDT
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.

Michael whose deceit has been compared by investigators to that of Frank Abagnale Jr., the man portrayed in the movie Catch Me if You Can -- even ran for a seat in the Nevada legislature.

But, in his most disturbing move, he practiced medicine without a license in Las Vegas for two years before coming to Kentucky, said Gerald J. Gardner, Nevada's chief deputy attorney general.

While posing as a doctor there, Michael, 38, gave medical advice and supervised potentially dangerous radioactive injections for MRI patients. He told people that he had completed a residency in cardiothoracic surgery at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and trained at several medical schools, according to a court affidavit.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/428/story/111316.html http://www.kentucky.com/428/story/111316.html Fri, 29 Jun 2007 14:13 EDT
Instead, Curran told Doumato that her blood cells were infested with parasites, her thyroid wasn't functioning properly and that she was aging three years for every year of her life, said Louise Doumato, her mother.

Then, the man who referred to himself as Dr. Curran dropped a bombshell.

He said Amanda was developing cancer.

"After I heard that, everything else became a blur," said Louise Doumato.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/428/story/11077.html http://www.kentucky.com/428/story/11077.html Thu, 01 Mar 2007 14:46 EST
2003: Observed heart specialists at Lexington's Central Baptist Hospital.

2005: Sentenced to six months in jail and four years of probation in Nevada for practicing medicine without a license.

2006: In jail in Nevada on federal credit-card charges.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/428/story/11079.html http://www.kentucky.com/428/story/11079.html Thu, 01 Mar 2007 14:46 EST
The state Board of Medical Licensure is charged with ensuring that your physician has met the appropriate qualifications and standards. It also investigates complaints and takes disciplinary action when violations occur.

In addition to regulating doctors, the board is responsible for regulating qualified physician's assistants, athletic trainers, surgical assistants and acupuncturists practicing in the state.

Patients can check on the board's Web site, http://kbml.ky.gov/, to see whether any of these health care providers are licensed.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/428/story/11072.html http://www.kentucky.com/428/story/11072.html Thu, 01 Mar 2007 14:46 EST
While they are not considered part of conventional medicine, some doctors use them in conjunction with standard protocols. And they are gaining in popularity and credibility.

This summer in Kentucky, for example, a new law took effect that requires acupuncturists to be licensed.

And a major study on complementary and alternative medicine funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is under way at the University of Kentucky.]]>