A Shameful Appointment Based On False Credentials: VADM Donald C. Arthur, Jr. And JCAHO

This is an unscheduled post - composed fairly quickly - out of a sense of outrage.

Shortly after lunch today, I got a call from Eric Gluck (whose sad story as a surgeon in the world's finest Navy I've previously blogged about), and he had some fairly disturbing news.

On September 29th, the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Hospital Organizations (JCAHO) announced that Donald Arthur, M.D. had been appointed to its Hospital Advisory Council.

The announcement seemed rather cagey with its details, so I sent an e-mail to JCAHO this afternoon to make sure that this Donald Arthur is THE SAME Donald C. Arthur, Jr. who, as a Navy Vice Admiral, targeted Eric for destruction (for whistle-blowing on bad care) and systematically laid waste to his career as a Navy surgeon.

The thing is that this man who so viciously mutilated Eric's life/career . . . this man now charged with evaluating the credentials of over 1200 physicians in his current job posting (which propelled him towards his JCAHO appointment), has some gaping holes in his own curriculum vitae (that's doctor-talk for resume) . . . including fraudulent master's, doctorate (healthcare management) and law degrees.

As he shamelessly stacked up "more degrees than a thermometer", Arthur was promoted up the military ranks . . . over genuinely qualified personnel.  In addition to his almost $500,000/year salary as a non-profit healthcare executive in PA, he now gets a $137,000+ Navy pension.

Since I know full well that getting a straight answer out of JCAHO is like trying to get a straight/honest answer out of Asheboro's own lying, way-over-paid Robert Morrison, I elected not to wait for an answer to my e-mail.  I did some pointing and clicking late this afternoon and was able to confirm Arthur's identity fairly quickly.

When I e-mailed JCAHO, I asked them that if, in their due-diligence, they had perchance glanced at the heavily-referenced Wikipedia article on Arthur's illustrious career with the Navy . . . a career advanced on fake/fraudulent degrees . . . and non-existent combat experience.

(Once again, let me state for the record that I had NOTHING to do with the Wiki article - although I kinda wish I had . . . because it's a thing of beauty.)

Like I said, I'm not really expecting an answer out of JCAHO.  As regular readers know, I met with JCAHO officials not-once-but-twice over what happened to me courtesy of the arrogant & cliquish liars & cheats running Randolph (i.e. wrongfully-fired/practice destroyed, SLAPP-sued, swindled) . . . after, as a young physician in public service, I intervened in a "bad baby" case being botched by someone else . . . in order to stop what is commonly called a "sentinel event", and then defied the prior threats of executives to report the incident to hospital peer review.

Good medicine, the truth, ethics, my (real) Pediatric Board-certification (as opposed to Cone-owned Mick Irwin's fake Neonatology fellowship) . . . none of it mattered . . . not to Randolph Hospital or the National Health Service Corps or the North Carolina Medical Board . . . and certainly not to JCAHO.

It also has not mattered to local journalists . . . a subject I intend to expound upon tomorrow.

In fact, JCAHO officials told me that while they "sympathized" with my predicament, they had no mechanisms in place to reign-in ethically-challenged executives.  Twelve years later, even in this era of accountability, transparency and "reform", they've not been compelled to plug that gaping black-hole. 

Whistle-blowing doctors done wrong by corrupt/crooked hospital executives are SOL. JCAHO nits and it picks - in a carefully orchestrated dog & pony show every few years.  But real oversight - especially of the "non-profit" sector - is non-existent.  Accreditation is a racket, funded by hospitals that caters to hospitals, and JCAHO is not about to bite the hand that feeds.

After all, it's far easier to label "dime-a-dozen" doctors as "disruptive".  And why not?  Our President thinks Pediatricians do unnecessary tonsillectomies for the money.

As for this shameful appointment, it's crystal clear that VADM Donald C. Arthur, Jr. is U.S. Navy "right people" and the rules that apply to the rest of us have never applied to him.

Lying about one's credentials . . . particularly claiming combat experience one does not have . . . is an egregious offense in military circles . . . a matter of dishonor . . . punishable by court-martial . . . and prosecutable under the Stolen Valor Act.

(Just like perjury is supposed to be a felony without-a-statute-of-limitations . . . punishable by fines and jail time . . . not that Randolph County DA, Garland Yates is going to lift a finger to do anything about it.)

Call me "disruptive" but let's be clear.  By elevating VADM Arthur to yet another exalted position that he "earned" with fake degrees and false credentials, JCAHO spits in the face of every veteran of the public service and military who played . . . and fought . . . by the rules.

It is nauseating.

IT IS WRONG.

And it's not the only prestigious appointment Arthur has recently secured.  Is a man who lied about his credentials in order to get ahead REALLY the kind of person we need telling the next generation how to lead at Harvard Business School?

We're two years into the era of Obama.  Our (Harvard-educated) President's entitlement-soaked healthcare "reform" legislation didn't fix ANY of the things that really need to be fixed.  And I ask you, is the "the change" America hoped for?  Are we really the kind of nation that elevates/protects liars & cheats . . . that lets CRAP like this stand?  Is this what we teach our children?

Maybe we need to climb town from the Ivy-league towers and start listening to the people who have really walked the talk . . .

. . . instead of those who make things up as they go along.