As the Medical Review Officer (MRO) for the Massachusetts state Physician Health Program (PHP), Physician Health Services, Inc. (PHS, inc.), Dr. Wayne Gavryck’s responsibility is simple. He is supposed to verify that the chain-of-custody in any and all drug and alcohol testing is intact before reporting a test as positive.
Dr. Gavryck evidently did not do that here. In fact for more than a year he helped cover up an alcohol test that was intentionally fabricated at the behest of PHS Medical Director Dr. Luis Sanchez, M.D. and Director of Operations Linda Bresnahan (who told me when I confronted her with the fact that I have never had or ever even been suspected of having an alcohol problem “you have an Irish last name–good luck finding anyone who will believe you!”)
It took a formal complaint with the College of American Pathologists to get the truth out. The whole fiasco can be seen here and here.
What Gavryck and his co-conspirators did is egregious and ethically reprehensible. It shows a complete lack of moral compass and personal integrity. What was done from collection to report to coverup and everything in-between is indefensible on all levels (procedurally, ethically, and legally).
The documentary evidence shows with clarity that this was not accident or oversight. It was intentional and purposeful misconduct. I think everyone would agree that there should be zero-tolerance for forensic fraud in positions of power. Any person of honor and civility would agree.
Transparency, regulation, and accountability are necessary for these groups. It is an issue that needs to be acknowledged and addressed not ignored and covered up.
If Dr. Gavryck can give a procedural, ethical, or legal explanation of what was done then I stand corrected. Just one will suffice. I’ll erase my blog and vanish into the woodwork. But If he cannot then this needs to be addressed openly and publicly. And whether he was involved in the original fraud or not is irrelevant. As the MRO for PHS it is his responsibility to correct it–however late the hour may be.
Perhaps Dr. Gavryck needs to see some of the damage he has caused in order to take this responsibility. Known as a “bag man” who simply rubber stamps positive tests at the request of Sanchez and Bresnahan (much like Annie Dookhan) he does not see the damage that is caused. Forensic fraud has grave and far reaching effects and in this case has severely impacted many people and include patient deaths.
Perhaps Dr. Gavryck needs to take a “moral inventory” and see that this this type of behavior causes real damage to real people and put a face on it.
It is people just like this who are killing physicians across the country. The body count is vast and multiple. And those who are caught doing dirty deeds such as this need to be held accountable.
Please help me get this exposed, corrected, and rectified. The doctors of Massachusetts and the doctors of this entire country deserve better than this.
Details of how the state PHP scam operates can be seen below as pertains to my case. Occurring in most states under the FSPHP ( although some are worse than others) the Method of Operation (M.O) is the same.
I. July 28th, 2011. Reporting a Positive Test
This letter from Physician Health Services, Inc. Medical Director (and past President of FSPHP) Dr. Luis Sanchez, M.D. to the Massachusetts Medical Board reports a markedly high level for Phosphatidylethanol (PEth), an alcohol biomarker test being used by Physician Health Programs to detect alcohol use.
The cutoff for heavy drinking is anything greater than 20 ng/mL. Mine came back at a level of 365.4 ng/ml! This level is suggestive of end-stage alcoholism and putting away a half-gallon a day of the hard stuff. It is, in fact, reportedly the second highest level in history and the other guy was dead on arrival.
After reporting the blood test as dirty, Sanchez then requests a “reevaluation.”
II. Requested Evaluation Limited to “Like-Minded Docs”
I was given three choices for this re-evaluation as listed above. The Medical Directors can all be found on this list of “Like-Minded Docs” Their philosophy of 12-step “intervention” can be seen here.
Dr. David Withers, M.D. Associate Medical Director of Marworth Treatment Center.
Dr. Marv Seppala, Chief Medical Director of Hazelden.
Dr. Omar Manejwala, M.D. Medical Director of Hazelden.
Dr. Mike Wilkerson, M.D., Medical Director of Bradford Health Services-Warrior
This referral to “like-minds” is part of the state Physician Health Program scam. It is essentially self-referral as the choices are limited to “PHP-approved” assessment and treatment centers. For doctors (and now pilots) an objective and independent referral is out of the question. It is, in fact, a rigged system.
Note Dr. Wayne Gavryck, M.D. Medical Review Officer (MRO) for the Massachusetts PHP, PHS, Inc. is also on the list of “Like-Minded Docs.”
Dr. Greg Skipper, the physician who proposed and promoted the use of EtG, EtS, PEth and other non FDA approved “Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs) for forensic testing is also on the list.
Former White House Drug Czar Dr. Robert Dupont who is claiming Physician Health Programs (PHPs) are the “new paradigm” for substance abuse treatment is also on the list. Dupont wants to use the PHP model (including the non-FDA approved drug and alcohol tests they introduced) for other Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and populations (including kids and students.).
III. November 29, 2011. PHS Agrees to my Request for “Litigation Packet”
Any and all forensic drug and alcohol testing requires strict chain-of-custody. Documentation of chain-of-custody is necessary to protects both those ordering and doing the testing and the person being tested. Forensic laboratories provide documentation of chain-of-custody in a document called a “litigation packet.”
On November 29, 2011 PHS agreed to my request.
IV. Discovering Procedural Misconduct and Forensic Fraud
The screenshot above is an ID card used for random drug and alcohol testing. It is a card issued by Physician Health Services, Inc. and contains my picture, my initials and an ID # 1310. The number #1310 is a unique identifier like a social security number or medical record number. It is used to document “chain-of-custody” for testing and identifies who I am for laboratory testing.
The document below is a fax from Physician Health Services, Inc.
The document is signed by Mary Howard , whose job description is as below:
“If you have any questions” the document sates, “please call Linda Bresnahan 781-434-7404.” Ms. Howard assists Ms. Bresnahan in the drug and alcohol testing of doctors monitored by PHS.
Disrupted Physician 
Reblogged this on Scott Andrew Hutchins.
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Reblogged this on Disrupted Physician and commented:
Details of how the state physician health program (PHP) scams operates can be seen below as pertains to my case. Occurring in most states under the Federation of State Physician Health Programs (FSPHP), some are worse than others but the Method of Operation (M.O) remains. The template is the same.
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Reblogged this on A Wanderer Far from Home… and commented:
My spouse’s manager tried to set them up when they left on two weeks’ vacation. The manager picked up a bottle of outdated contrast material that had been thrown away. Held it until my spouse came back from vacation and then accused them of using the outdated contrast material. Do I believe someone would fudge the pathology tests? You Betcha’!
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Thanks so much for naming names. I, too, named names as soon as I dared. I checked with WordPress who confirmed that this was okay to do. I think readers need to realize that we bloggers who are now speaking openly would very quickly be taken down if we were lying. To lie publicly and claim it’s truth is not only illegal, but it’s against most server policies. But they can’t, because we are telling the truth. We are considered a threat to the wrongdoers since we are exposing them for who they are. To shut us up, they try all sorts of illegal means to stop us.
My blog, where I often speak of the abuses done to me at MGH and Mount Auburn is here: http://juliemadblogger.wordpress.com. I’ve been blogging for ten years now and the worst of the abuse was in 2011 and 2013.
There were many offenses, so I will only mention the ones that perhaps your medically-oriented audience might appreciate. I was hospitalized for severe dehydration, anorexia, low weight, and bradycardia in 2011. To monitor me via “sitters” was uncalled for since to order them requires absolute positive danger to self. There are criteria for this, set up in 2009. The sitters were abusive. After I was transferred to the psych ward (where I went willingly since I wanted to get rid of the abusive sitters) all my phone calls in and out were monitored by a nurse who stood next to me and commented on every word I said. The unit, Blake 11, did this to about 1/2 of the inpatients, breaking state patient rights laws. But worse, they deprived me of water. I have had diabetes insipidus (from lithium) for about 30 years and need at least a gallon and a half of water a day, far more in summer. I was allowed one quart per day. After a day, two days, three days, I was clearly dehydrated, practically on my knees begging for water like a slave. I asked why. They said, “Protocol.” I asked if there was a medical reason for it, and they said, “It’s protocol for all ED patients. No other reason.” Two years later MGH (via my outpatient shrink) claimed I had “polydipsied” while on the medical floor and that my sodium had droppped. This wasn’t true at all. There was no such blood level. It was completely fabricated AFTER they noticed my blogging.
Then, at Mount Auburn, there were so many offenses I can’t even begin. For one thing, they fudged my admitting weight by at least 18 pounds. Not much for a guy 6 feet tall, but I’m 5’1″ and my weight that morning was 78 not 96 as recorded. Then, a couple of days later I was handed a single dose of 600 mgs Lamictal. I was in acute kidney failure, had gone into full code in the ER (which they chose to keep secret from me), dehydrated, malnourished, and way too skinny. You know what that 600 mgs Lamictal would have done to me? I hadn’t been on it for a couple of years. After I spat it out to save my life, they claimed I was “noncompliant,” and to top it off, they claimed I was “suicidal.”
They knew all along I wasn’t “danger to self.” The administrators knew. They needed those sitters monitoring me to ensure I kept my trap shut, and for no other reason. No, not “danger to self.” Danger to them, via my pen. And yes, the hospital records I received were fudged.
Worst of all has been the trauma, from which I still suffer. I can still see those nurses rolling their eyes at me. I can feel their utter disdain and disrespect toward me. I can still feel the worst of those sitters, who shoved me again and again, staring me down while I sat on the can shitting my brains out and telling me repeatedly that I was stupid. I am also suffering trauma from complete lack of understanding in my community after I got out. They turned their backs. I was called “ungrateful” for reporting the abuse to the state. I was denied medical care afterward, too. I’m poor so I couldn’t get a lawyer.
Can you see why I HAD to leave? What I went through was hell and I would never wish it on another human being. That’s why I blog. To save others from similar horror stories. If anyone here knows of lawyers who take on this kind of thing, let me know. Oh, by the way, my new book was accepted for publication last week.
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Congratulations on your book Julie– you are right. If any mistruths were presented they would be on it in a minute. And I know they are watching – most of them followed my
Blog using their own
Email addresses and the others were not too hard to figure out
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They follow me on Twitter, too. They are welcome to do so. Do you get bullies? I have gotten a few. I showed one of these commentaries to another activist and she told me that undoubtedly, it was written by a former provider. He used a fake email address that in itself contained vulgar obscenities, mention of body parts, etc. These are people claiming expertise, for godsakes! They lead double lives, apparently. I have another who tells me just how ugly I am. Always using fake IP addresses. Someone also put a toolbar on my blog that only some viewers can see called do not link dot com. Every time I try to speak of that toolbar, people assume I am delusional or paranoid but one of my friends has seen it when she went to my blog, and I have seen it to (but I’m incompetent, right?). I haven’t been able to get a response from WordPress.com on this. I believe it lowers your SEO ratings and also makes your readership appear smaller than it is. I am hoping to get the toolbar off ASAP. We need more to speak out on the abuses. That’s how to stop it. They say there’s safety in numbers and my hope is that at some point, there will be so many voices chiming in that no one will ever doubt us again.
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