On one level this medmal story in the Ann Arbor News has an OK ending, “Doctor admits to false testimony in Ann Arbor VA case.”
Dr. Alex Zakharia, 69, of the Miami area, pleaded guilty to contempt of court, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Authorities said he testified as an expert witness in 2002 on behalf of a plaintiff charging a doctor at the VA with medical malpractice in connection with a coronary artery bypass graft.
He admitted that during the deposition, he falsely bolstered his credibility as an expert by creating the impression that he was the lead surgeon for numerous coronary artery bypass grafts – when he never conducted such surgeries, officials said.
Under a plea agreement, Zakharia faces up to one year in custody, must make restitution with affected parties, and will retire from medical practice by the end of the year.
In exchange, felony charges pending against him for perjury, mail fraud and wire fraud will be dismissed. He will be sentenced Dec. 11.
The lawbreaker was caught. He is making restitution, etc. Good enough? At least one doctor thinks it is not enough:
Instead, they should throw the book at him and show others that this crap should not be tolerated from anyone. I don’t care whether you’re a doctor, a cop, a scientist, or a street bum. You’re lying in order to persuade 12 people who are trying to make an honest decision that will affect someone’s career, life, finances, freedom, etc. — all to make a quick buck from some unsuspecting attorney.
Dishonesty of any sort under these circumstances is just wrong on so many levels.
He’s right about how wrong it is. And I can’t help noticing how long it took to get the guy to a guilty plea. What I would like to know is, have we caught all the perjurers from 2002? How often does this go on in medical malpractice court cases?
Sometimes, you just can’t catch everyone. One way to keep society from being destroyed by the crime is to make sure the people who you do catch are prosecuted to the full extent of the law. I would love some way to find out (1) how often perjury takes place–especially in medmal cases, (2) how often it is likely that they get caught, and (3) what the average penalty amounts to.
I suppose there is no way to find out.
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