With medical credentials, it's patient beware

IN KENTUCKY, NO AGENCY OVERSEES ONLINE SCHOOLS' AUTHENTICITY AND GRADUATES

By Valarie Honeycutt Spears

HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

FRANKFORT --

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.

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.

He acknowledged, however, that he was familiar with Arnett. Both men served on a legislative commission to craft new alternative medicine laws for Kentucky in 1999. That task force met 13 times.

He said his office will investigate how the three men received their questionable medical degrees.

"We're reviewing the information to see what action might be appropriate," said Leatherman.

Both Lammers and Michael were students at St. Luke School of Medicine, an online school whose legitimacy has been questioned in the United States and abroad. Because they said they were medical students, they were able to observe medical procedures or work with patients in Kentucky.

Officials at Kentucky's Board of Medical Licensure say its primary focus is on physicians who are already licensed by the state.

Kentucky does not have an office that concentrates on the investigation of people accused of practicing medicine without a license. But the board's attorney, C. Lloyd Vest, said the board investigates any allegation it receives and that the Attorney General's office can seek an injunction to stop the activity.

Fake degrees - from unaccredited schools - are illegal in Oregon, New Jersey, Indiana, Illinois, North Dakota and Nevada, where they are misdemeanors and are mainly punishable by fines ranging from $350 to $2,500. However, violators - both the degree holders and the institutions - rarely face prosecution.

A Kentucky bill

For the last three years, State Rep. Susan Westrom, (D-Lexington), has unsuccessfully introduced a bill that would make the use of bogus credentials a Class D felony, punishable by a prison sentence of up to five years.

"It's a no-brainer piece of legislation," Westrom said. "When you have people who have lives in their hands and they have a diploma on the wall, you want to be careful that they are legitimate. But people in the general population have no idea how to go about checking credentials."

The bill has always passed the House, Westrom said, but has never been heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"You don't know where these graduates are going to pop up," said Dean Hughson, of Scottsdale, Ariz. He has been tracing the foreign ties of online schools for several years. "The question is how you protect consumers."

George Gollin, a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has studied dozens of online medical schools and sees a serious problem for patients all over the world.

"It could be quackery. It could be criminal. The American Medical Association needs to get involved," Gollin said.