In the latest development of Dr. Richard Keller's involvement with the private Green Dragonfly methadone clinic in Waukegan, the clinic announced that it will voluntarily close... that is, before the heat gets to be too much, apparently.
The clinic, and Keller himself, are under investigation for their involvement in the death by drug overdose of 30 year-old Lindenhurst resident Steven Vaughn. Keller, as readers will recall, abruptly resigned from his position as medical director of the clinic shortly after he announced he would not run again for his elected position of Lake County Coroner. He later admitted that the Green Dragonfly investigation prompted his decision not to run again, after first stating that he was simply tired of the politics involved in the job.
The News-Sun reported on this in today's edition, but a much more penetrating article in the Tribune suggests that the clinic operators may end up throwing Keller under the bus:
Keller said Tuesday that he was surprised to learn of the clinic's closing and declined comment. When asked, he said he has no intention of quitting his elected position as coroner, a 4-year term that ends in 2012.
"All along, Green Dragonfly has relied on the medical advice of Dr. Keller, who is also the Lake County coroner," the clinic said in a prepared statement. "As we continue to investigate the tragedy of the death of Mr. Vaughn, we will hold accountable the failure of anyone to follow the law and proper procedures."
Green Dragonfly owners Mary Olloway and Sandra Hay could not be reached Tuesday. Hay and her husband also own On the Border, a Franklin, Wis., strip club -- a connection also being investigated.
It remains to be seen where the investigation leads and whether Keller will do another flip-flop, and end up resigning his post as coroner.
As we all also remember, the Lake County Democrats have sworn that the investigation of Keller is all just political persecution. The more this story develops, the more it becomes clear that such claim is just so much more smokescreen and lack of accountability from the Dems.
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4 comments:
I wonder if Steve Vaughn was a pop star, criminal charges would be placed against his physician, Dr. Keller, as is the case in Michael Jackson's death.
This guy needs to resign - yesterday...
The 'jury' is out on Dr. Keller.
Also, the blog post by TA was fairly objective, yet again.
Wow, I could get used to this but I will take a wait and see approach. (much like the GOP response to healthcare: 'we can HOPE doing nothing will eventually reduce the unsustainable increase in the cost of healthcare (i.e. 10% increase in costs for 2010 and beyond, but we cannot guarantee it, not can we? A variety of well-known, top-tier consulting agencies [not the UHC-financed Lewin Group] are reporting the aforementioned estimates or expectations - go and read it yourself, if you'd like)
However, as TA pointed out, the owners of the clinic, who have an unusual side-line out of state, may be trying to CYB.
As Hannity et al, will tell you, one cannot fully trust everything we read in the paper. Although I would agree -though not for the same reasons- I think that the press can be fast and lose about who wrote what prescription for whom, when and where. That may not be for a court of public opinion to decide.
Also, I don't recall GOP calls for an investigation of one of Keller's predecessors for their 'side-line' business or to look into the financial accumen and adherence to best practices regarding Curran's predecessor.
(You know, the Republican he ran against with no hesitation? Could the cloud over Del Re's head have helped Curran win?)
You see, if there is more objectivity in one's disdain toward alleged wrong-doing, future commentary MAY BE looked at more objectively as well.
The idea of the born-again fiscal conservatives in Washington come to mind, who must have been asleep when the tax cuts (spending!) and a pre-emptive strike financed by the People's Republic of China (not FDIC insured, by the way) were approved and numerous supplementals were approved with no strings. If I can't get a loan from the bank down the street without strings and nothing should be approved in Congress without signing statements or disclaimers, why spend so much without strings?
Finally, Rep. Waxman has written to drug manufacturers stating that they received a windfall with the Medicare Reform Act. In covering medication for seniors, those dual eligible seniors (on Medicare and Medicaid) now rely on Medicare for prescriptions. The only problem is that Medicaid had the right to negotiate with pharma on the cost of prescriptions. Thanks to Bush, Medicare and private insurers participating in Medicare plans cannot. (fiscal conservative, compassionate former President Bush led to an unnecessary increase in spending. If I can take advantage of volume pricing at Sam's Club or Costco, why can't Uncle Sam's Medicare? The VA does!
Crazy,
There are GOP proposals to reform healthcare out there, you just have to read them instead of listening to the Democrats sneer that they are not plans or merely support the status quo. The problem with the plans the Democrats are proposing is that not all Democrats in Congress support them. So the Democratic leadership, being unable to round up their own membership, blames Republicans?
Like Springfield, the Democrats have the votes to reform everything and everyone at any time, but just can't seem to do it.
I also believe that Dr. Keller had plenty of time now to check his medical records to see if a blood or urine test was performed on that poor unfortunate man before prescribing him meth. We have since learned that Keller had little experience in this field of medicine and the co-owners of the clinic own a stripper bar in Wisconsin? And the home office of the corporation is the same address as Keller's home? Is this true? The info comes from the Secretary of State, a fellow Democrat!
So did he also own it? Did he draw a salary from it or merely volunteer?
In any event, while all those questions are being asked and will eventually be answered, there is one thing that absolutely needs to be done, Dr. Keller also needs to resign his position as Coroner. Last I heard, the Coroner's office is part of law enforcement.
And this from a fellow (Keller) who made a big deal over Whipper's side income and activities when he was Coroner?
Louis G. Atsaves
I don't think we should give up on the 10th race yet. Julie Hamos, my new favorite dem, who appears to have been born with her foot in her mouth just handed us several great interviews with this berkowitz interview.
1)Like dan she doesn't think the us should support israel in confrontation with iran.
2)She's a big spender, and doesn't believe in fiscal responsibility.
3)She has no clue on the war on terror.
http://www.youtube.com/user/publicaffairstv#play/favorites/0/1qBmjOFfLwU
Worth a watch, here's hoping the district dems drop dan so we can have this woman for breakfeast.
FOKLAES
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