True Crime Tuesday [6/23/2020]
**Please note that prior to an admission of guilt or guilty verdict by trial, an offender/defendant is presumed innocent. Crimes listed below are crimes that the individual has been charged with but not convicted of. If by trial, the guilt or innocence of a defendant is determined by a jury or judge, not by attorneys nor police/law enforcement involved.**
Today brings a unique case that involves reported criminal activity and the field of psychiatry, but possibly not in the way you expect. Psychiatry, or the medical field studying and working with mental health disorders, specifically the medications that may help treat those conditions, is often used as an outside tool or method to examine a criminal offender. However, in this case described below, the psychiatrist IS the alleged criminal offender.
A quick note, please do not let the actions of one individual influence your opinion on their field. Just because this psychiatrist is reported to have engaged in wrongdoing does not mean that other psychiatrists are the same. In fact, it is individuals in that same field who may have the greatest resentment toward those who taint the profession that they choose to represent.
Dr. Bassam M.A. El-Borno is a 64-year-old psychiatrist practicing in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Recently, the Attorney General’s Office announced that the 45th Statewide Grand Jury recommended to charge El-Borno with felonies related to prescribing medications not in good medical practice, Medicaid fraud, theft by deception, insurance fraud, and violation of the Wiretap Act. The sources I looked at did not mention what he did specifically to violate the Wiretap Act.
It is reported that El-Borno prescribed psychoactive medications such as Adderall and Ritalin (both are stimulants used to primarily treat ADHD) to patients who may have never received an evaluation from the beginning, timely assessments, or actually meeting with the patient. El-Borno is reported to have charged 50-75 dollars per prescription, and would then mail the prescription to the patient or tape an envelope to the door outside of his office with the prescriptions inside. One parent advised that El-Borno mailed 11 prescriptions to her within a one-year timeframe for her 7-year-old child. El-Borno is reported to have never met with the child. Another patient reports that El-Borno has written 70 prescriptions for Adderall, without ever meeting with him, and that El-Borno only based it on the patient’s wife calling and telling him that he “could use the drug”. Reports also indicate that El-Borno has referred to himself as a “drug dealer” and his clients as “addicts”. The investigation also reports that he billed insurance companies for patient office visits that never actually occurred. The investigators had a medical expert, another psychiatrist, review the files and agreed that the files lacked an assessment, ongoing check-in with the patient, and was not done in “good faith or by the standards expected of doctors”.
A search of the Department of State’s Pennsylvania Licensing System Verification service yielded results for Dr. Bassam M.A. El-Borno. It indicates that his medical license is still active as of today (6/23/2020). Records indicate that his license was issued to him on 11/8/1988 and is due to expire 12/31/2020, with it last being renewed on 11/3/2018. There are no listed disciplinary actions were found on his license.
As a psychiatrist, he is required to have a medical license in order to practice medicine (legally). Defendants do sometimes have their license suspended or completely revoked as a result of wrongdoing. It is my understanding that these actions can take place even without criminal charges filed, or guilt being admitted or found.
A general search of Dr. Bassam El-Borno’s name returned search results on several rate-my-doctor-type websites. After searching through one (ratemds.com), comments from patients indicated sadness for him leaving his practice. He responds with the following, directly quoted from the site:
“Dr. Bassam M.A. El-Borno's response: Thank you ever so much for your Love. I've been in such deep pain day in and day out thinking of all those whom I've let down. I can't put into words the guilt and sorrow that I struggle with knowing of the hardships that I've brought unto others as a result of my failures. I just kept giving without looking after myself. I've lived a good life in the servitude of others and I'm grateful for the journey as I came to be enriched by those of you who replenished my faith in humanity. Where to begin indeed, as your suspicions and intuitions have merit. The human capacity for evil in this world is unfathomable and I have been struck down by a few who are soulless. As the onslaught persists, I'm left with very little strength and my time is dwindling. As the end nears, I can only dream that you and others who are similarly endowed with virtuous hearts will forgive me. For now, in the words of Martin Luther King Jr.; "I quietly endure, silently suffer and patiently wait......until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream” from the Lord and no other. With profound regret and intense affection....Dr. El-Borno. Submitted October 26, 2019”
It is unclear what the “failures” he is referring to are. It is unclear what challenges he faced during this time. However, in other posts he mentions not taking care of himself. Perhaps this means taking care of his own mental health. No one is immune to poor or neglected health, not even a medical professional. However, not all of those who experience poor health act in ways such as this. Information can be used as context, but not an excuse.
Please feel free to comment your thoughts, feelings, and reactions below. True crime is a topic I try to use not only to bring awareness to criminal behaviors happening, but also to educate and recognize the various forms it can take.
[Sources: Pennsylvania Department of State Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs website (2020); Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General Official Press Release June 22, 2020 Attorney General Josh Shapiro ; Lancaster Online (LNP News) Dan Nephin, June 22, 2020; Ratemds.com]
[Photo Credit:Jordan Search Consultants website]