Here's the article
http://news.tbo.com/news/MGBOP6F3P4E.html
Case Files Referred En Masse By Agency
By LENNY SAVINO lsavino@tampatrib.com
Published: Feb 2, 2005
The Florida Department of Health tacitly admitted Tuesday that it probably has failed to tell prosecutors about thousands of cases in which health care providers in the state were suspected of criminal wrongdoing - even though it was required to by law.
Many cases are now too old to be brought to trial.
Health Secretary John O. Agwunobi ordered a review that led to the admission last week after learning that department investigators hadn't told prosecutors of more than 100 cases in which psychiatrists, psychologists and other therapists were found to have had sexual contact with current or former patients, which Florida law prohibits. The cases date to 1992.
A team of health department investigators spent the weekend beginning an examination of 24,000 case files to determine how many of them hadn't been referred to prosecutors, department spokeswoman Lindsay Hodges said.
But in an about-face, the department abandoned this review Tuesday and instead, on orders from Agwunobi, began referring all of them, Hodges said.
Agwunobi wasn't available for questions, Hodges said.
Some professed outrage over the spreading scandal.
``It would be a comedy if it wasn't a tragedy,'' said state Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach. Gelber called for a legislative investigation.
Prosecutors said they were stunned.
``My analysis of this is that someone is cleaning off their desk at the health department and putting the mess onto the desks of state attorneys,'' said Bruce Bartlett, chief assistant state attorney for Pinellas and Pasco counties.
Hodges couldn't say how many files the investigators examined before Agwunobi changed course. But it quickly became apparent that prosecutors hadn't been notified in any of them.
``There were no letters in the case files saying they were referred,'' Hodges said.
It didn't matter that many of the cases no longer can be prosecuted or might have been referred previously, Hodges said. They're being referred now out of ``an abundance of caution,'' she said.
The referrals bring the department into compliance with state law, and prosecutors might find the information useful should more allegations surface against a provider, Hodges added.
Letters covering about 80 percent of the 24,000 cases had been mailed as of Tuesday evening, Hodges said. The rest were to go into the mail today.
Legal Requirements
The law requiring the health department to tell local prosecutors when a health care provider is suspected of criminal wrongdoing took effect in 1992. The department took the added step of making referrals mandatory in a written policy adopted in 2002. Department guidelines require investigators to tell prosecutors promptly when suspected wrongdoing might be criminal.
Meanwhile, the department conducts an administrative investigation of the allegation. If an impropriety is proven, it can impose a range of sanctions, including fines and revocation of a license.
Agwunobi learned from a department inspector general's report of the department's failure to tell prosecutors of cases involving the therapists, who are prohibited from having sexual contact with patients under a separate state law. Violating it is a felony.
Most felonies in Florida have to be tried within three years, under still another law known as the statute of limitations. If prosecutors don't act within this period, the accused in a given case escapes criminal liability.
Health department investigators began the larger review by identifying 24,000 cases in which health department overseers found probable cause of an administrative impropriety, Hodges said, then began going through these by hand.
They matched an unspecified number of files to an existing department database and found that the pertinent information matched, Hodges said. That triggered the mass referrals, she said.
Pam Bondi of the Hillsborough County state attorney's office said she got a department referral packet an inch thick Tuesday. It listed hundreds of cases, dating to 1992.
``I was taken aback,'' Bondi said.
``I have not yet seen the new referrals,'' said Bartlett, the chief assistant prosecutor for Pinellas and Pasco counties, ``but I will tell you it is doubtful'' most can be tried.
If his office is sent a referral of cases eight or nine years old, Bartlett said, ``we'll just send it back to them.''
Bondi, however, said she thinks a few of the cases her office received still might be subject to prosecution. For example, she said, the three-year statute of limitations does not apply in rape cases.
Strong Reactions
The strongest reaction by far came from Gelber, the state representative.
``This is inexcusable,'' Gelber told the Tribune. He called the department's decision to send out all the referrals at once ``dysfunctional.''
``How are [prosecutors] going to catch up?'' he asked. ``What kind of triage are they going to have to employ?''
Gelber, who worked for 10 years as a federal prosecutor, said he already is discussing the scandal with legislative leaders.
As The Tampa Tribune reported Thursday in a story disclosing the oversight breakdown, one case that went unreferred involved a male psychiatrist found to have had an eight-year affair with a female patient.
The Department of Health revoked his license. He agreed to an out-of-court settlement in a civil lawsuit the patient filed, although the psychiatrist's attorney said he insists that he is innocent.
The case happened in Gelber's district.
``It looks to me like years of ignoring responsibility, which led to some really bad government,'' he said.
Agwunobi briefed Gov. Jeb Bush on the case review, spokesman Jacob DiPietre said. Bush expressed confidence in Agwunobi's handling of the situation to that point, but DiPietre didn't know whether Agwunobi told Bush before his decision to make mass referrals.
Through professional oversight boards and other bodies, the health department oversees about 350,000 health care providers in the state - anyone in the field who has to be licensed. This includes everyone from neurosurgeons to hearing aid technicians, from psychiatrists to massage therapists. The department also polices another 120,000- odd providers who live elsewhere but maintain Florida licenses.
Last year, it received about 40,000 complaints against providers. Only a fraction of these typically are judged worthy of administrative action.
Prosecutors are supposed to be told of those involving criminal accusations by an office in the department known as the Medical Quality Assurance Consumer Services Unit.
The fact that it didn't in 100- plus cases of therapists who became sexually involved with patients was probably the result of lax supervision, the department inspector general's investigation found.
Agwunobi demoted and transferred the unit's chief, Charlene Willoughby, but to date no one else has been punished.
Reporter Lenny Savino can be reached at (813) 259-7567.
Praying for Terri. Everyone, please pray for Terri. As amdgmary posted on another thread, Terri's life is in imminent danger.
Some professed outrage over the spreading scandal. "It would be a comedy if it wasn't a tragedy,'' said state Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach. Gelber called for a legislative investigation