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”

http://law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/supreme-court/2002/a-100-00-opn.html

http://www.northjersey.com/news/income-puts-rutgers-university-doctors-among-elite-1.744782?page=all

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:

http://www.state.nj.us/lps/ca/bme/bmeform.htm

Do this before he hurts any more innocent unsuspecting patients.