January - 2015

The evolution of minimally invasive spine surgery in the middle east and Bangladesh

The emerging field of minimally invasive spine surgery, which began in earnest about ten years ago, is just beginning to make an impact in the Middle East and Bangladesh. Some of the factors that have impeded the growth include political instability in Bangladesh and attitudes of political conservatism in the Middle East, the latter of which is rather surprising when cone considers that this region of the world was the birthplace of mathematics and science with some very prog

The human cost of political corruption

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie Seen by Many as Contributing to the Genocide in The Democratic Republic of The Congo as well as to the Lack of Access to Medical Care by Some of New Jersey’s Most Vulnerable Back Pain Sufferers July 29, 2013, Newark, NJ - Is New Jersey Governor Chris Christie contributing to the genocide in the Congo? This is the question now being asked by many concerned New Jersey residents who read and viewed the Op Doc piece, Congo: The Road to Ruin, tha

Lindy Washburn-A journalistic puppet ?

A story published in a New Jersey tabloid, The Bergen Record, on November 17th 2013 written by Lindy Washburn is an unfortunate example of the desperate levels to which New Jersey print journalism is stooping as it attempts to survive the digital onslaught of bloggers. The competition for readers with sensationalist headlines and factually incompetent stories is understandable from a business strategy perspective but the abrogation of duty to report responsibly has the same s

Luminosity-fact or fiction ?

Intelligence is almost indefinable but some of the more ironically intelligent definitions include the ability to assimilate data, make associations that lead to conclusions with all of this being performed in a conceptual framework. Since the commencement of the 20th century there has been an increasing interest in the field of intelligence with significant efforts by biologists, anthropologist and psychologists to define, categorize and develop evaluation techniques. The s

The winter of our discontent

The ever-increasing complexity of the US healthcare system is reflected in the voluminous barrage of state regulations severely curtailing the dispensation of synthetic opiates to patients with chronic pain patients. These recent legislative moves are a response to a relatively small number of deaths related to the overdose deaths of members of the upper echelons of society and a few high profile celebrities, as tragic as they are. However any social problem, as history has d

How to turn every challenge into an opportunity

The one simple answer to the above all encompassing quasi-life guidebook is the word perspective. We are born, we live, we die and during the course of our earthly existence we encounter hurdles, injustices and obstacles that seem insurmountable. I can definitively tell you that from the many challenges, fair and unfair, that populated the path of my 50-year life, the only event that we as humans are currently unable to overcome is death. There is no other scenario presented

Wisdom of the wise falls short of the universal truth

Except our own thoughts, there is nothing absolutely in our power-Rene Descartes The mind is everything. What you think you become-Buddha Throughout the history of man many minds of wisdom have provided various explanations of the purpose, substance and consequence of human existence in their quest to both answer questions and provide intelligible frameworks around which the mind of man can hold onto for security and climb for comprehension. However relevant their words and i

Humanitarian Indian physician contributes to the intellectual and leadership future of the democrati

Dr Richard Arjun Kaul, a prominent Indian physician, well known philanthropist and pioneer in Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery personally donated the seed capital for the 300 Initiative commencing September 1 2013. This groundbreaking educational program will provide financial and logistics support to youth and emerging leaders in the DRC. The CLI was founded in 2010 by Cornell graduate Nathaniel Houghton whose socially responsible motivation and global outlook provided the

Racial variations in spinal anatomy

It should be no surprise that among all of the variable phenotypes that inhabit the earth with a myriad of eye shapes, colors, facial features that the spine should be any exception and in fact what has been found is that the variations in key anatomical components of the spine differ significantly between racial groups. This set of findings is significant in that it forces the treating physician to employ alternative diagnostic therapeutic strategies. The realization that de

Modular ambulatory surgical units

The provision of elective healthcare is increasingly migrating towards the outpatient ambulatory surgical setting, with the most recent addition being that of minimally invasive spine surgery. The advances in techniques and technologies over the last decade have propelled the treatment of spinal disorders into the 21st century, with their muscle sparring approaches and minimal blood loss profiles. Due in large part to these factors the majority of spine care can now be safel

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ROBERT HEARY

THE POLITICALLY CONNECTED $3.1 MILLION NEUROHACK

For the last three years I have been writing extensively about the unfortunate role that political corruption plays in the field of New Jersey healthcare where patronage and kickbacks are considered the norm. Readers not familiar with the saga of The Spine Turf Wars would be understandably shocked to learn that the above mentioned neurosurgeon is the same Robert Heary that paralyzed from the neck down an otherwise healthy 35 year old male in 1999, just after he had lied to the patient about his qualifications. Now in most instances this would have resulted in the removal of his medical license, but because Heary had been playing the New Jersey political game of pay to play, he escaped any disciplinary action. The patient however sued Heary and was awarded a $5.2 million verdict, one of the highest jury payouts ever.

I write this article with admittedly a degree of personal animus, principally because it was Heary, who in 2008 encouraged a patient, Frances Kuren, to file both a complaint with the medical board and a lawsuit, which due to his friendship with one of the board members, Steven Lomazow, was able to have my medical license suspended. His motivation for this, as I have described elsewhere, was purely professional jealousy and his desire to damage the spine business I had developed over ten years and which posed a significant threat to his financial position.

The tragedy of this entire situation is that the medical board did not have the courage to take action against Heary because of his political connections at UMDNJ which he subsequently bolstered by making large contributions to the political campaign of Chris Christie. It might be said that he felt invincible and regardless of his multiple acts of negligence felt no harm would come to him. Ultimately however the façade cracks and as with all great con artists the gig is up. Lying and then paralyzing an otherwise 35-year-old man would normally encourage the perpetrator to live a quiet humble life in his glass house, but Heary consumed with arrogance commenced a campaign to attack my reputation and career through the process of political corruption, an avenue he knew only too well.

As with all ill founded schemes their unraveling is swift and ugly and the most recent article about Heary and his $3.1 million state funded pay package could be the straw that broke the spine of the New Jersey neurosurgeon. Medicine should not tolerate this type of professional malfeasance and the fact that Heary has been able to get away with his repeated acts of dishonesty and negligence talks more tellingly to the corruption that has sadly infiltrated the practice of medicine in New Jersey.

The correct course of action would be to remove his license and remove his inflated paycheck, which now that his political mentors are on the wane would be an easier proposition. For too long he has hid like a coward behind the protections that his chums in state office have afforded him, in return for the generous donations he has made over the years to their political campaigns. Medicine was never intended to be practiced this way and it must be brought to an end in the state of New Jersey. It is of course a good thing to encourage healthy competition between doctors as this generally leads to higher standards of practice, but what should absolutely not be tolerated is the practice of political bribes and weighted favors designed to have competitors removed from the playing field. This form of business is more at home with the tactics of the mob and not the profession of medicine.

Heary hides behind the ivory towers of UMDNJ, too frightened to attend legal depositions for which he has often been issued arrest warrants and too scared to issue comments to the press. A coward if ever there was one.

I apologize if the essay is rather heavy but this man has been instrumental in the destruction of my 25-year professional career, and over the last three years I have both written against him and filed a lawsuit alleging defamation and restriction of trade. But more importantly than that or my case is the damage he continues to wreck on the patients of New Jersey with his continued negligence and disregard for their welfare to which the medical board has still not taken any action.

The more attention the media and public bring to the activities of this individual the more likely he will be prevented from injuring other patients. This takes persistence, courage and tenacity but will eventually lead to the removal of an incompetent doctor that does more harm than good.

Below are contained the links to the relevant stories that provide the context for the above article”

Please read these stories and if you feel strongly enough that this man should be stopped then contact the medical board at the following address:

Do this before he hurts any more innocent unsuspecting patients.