IS THE MEDICAL EXAMINER IN SPECTRUM'S POCKET?

I want to report to you that we have now received information from different sources that the Kent County medical examiner has not been carrying out autopsies requested by the families of patients who have died while in the care of Spectrum Hospital.  It appears that the medical examiner farms out these requests out to an independent contractor who has conflicts of interest with Spectrum.  The suspicion is that this contractor sits on autopsy requests that might reveal medical malpractice by Spectrum.  We'll have more to say about this once we've collected more information.

Comments

[Phyllis Jennings]

There are more and more families in this community who cannot obtain autopsy reports for their
loved ones who die at Spectrum Health facilities. When are you going to run the articles you mentioned earlier about the for-profit relationship between Spectrum Health and Kent County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Cohle, a contracted employee of Spectrum Health? The public needs to know the truth, Bill.

[Phyllis Jennings]

Bill, Thought your readers would also like to know that Grand Rapids City Attorney Philip Balkema and Grand Rapids Police Chief Harry Dolan appear to be directly involved in the medical examiner suspicious death cover-up as well. During a recess of the City Commission meeting on Nov. 22, Attorney Balkema stated that it is "not the job of the GRPD" to investigate suspicious or sudden deaths that occur at Grand Rapids health care institutions and nursing homes. He also stated that a group of these concerned families would NEVER be able to meet with Police Chief Harry Dolan to discuss all of these suspicious deaths. Isn't investigating suspicious and sudden deaths (no matter where they occur within the city boundaries) a responsibility of the GRPD? Apparently not, according to good old Phil. It would seem from the City Attorney's statements that only "certain" suspicious deaths are ever investigated by the cops here. Maybe LAW needs to ask Attorney Balkema and Police Chief Dolan what they are covering up as well?

[The Executive Director]

Thanks for the information, Phyllis. I'll give you a call to follow up. Plus I have some good news for you.

Regards,
Bill

[Phyllis Jennings]

Bill, it was great to hear that during this morning's Kent County Board of Commissioners' meeting, county officials were once again trying to absolve themselves of any responsibility for the suspicious death cover-up work being done by our very own Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Stephen Cohle. All of the families who have been denied the truth about our loved ones' "real" causes of death are again asking you and the Local Area Watch to help us expose Dr. Cohle for what he really is, as well as what his two for-profit companies are really doing with our loved ones' autopsy reports and missing organs. We're looking forward to seeing those articles, Bill - the sooner, the better.

[Phyllis Jennings]

Bill, Is the Kent County Medical Examiner's Office threatening you for trying to expose the truth about Dr. Stephen Cohle and his private, for-profit companies? Why have all the public comments that were posted on your Web site about Dr. Cohle been removed? The public needs to know what's really going on in this community, Bill.

[The Executive Director]

Hi, Phyllis.

No comments have been removed from the website regarding Dr. Cohle and the medical examiner's office. (We have been on hiatus for the holidays.) We consider the matter to be deadly serious and are actively researching it. Also, we are working on getting the local media's interest in the story. We have had some success in this regard, and I will be in touch with you tomorrow (Tuesday, Jan. 3) about that.

Best regards,
Bill Tingley
Executive Director

[Phyllis Jennings]

Bill and Local Area Watch,

Our group has found yet another family who lost their loved one suddenly and under suspicious circumstances at the same local healthcare facility as was mentioned in your earlier articles. Like my family, this family also requested a complete autopsy to determine their loved one's real cause of death. The autopsy report they recently received appears to be the same kind of "fabricated" autopsy report as I received back in the spring of 2005. There is no cause of death, no manner of death, and no signatures of any certifying physicians or county medical examiners. So it's very obvious that the complete autopsies our families requested are not being conducted, and that fake autopsy reports are being produced for everyone on a regular basis. Oh, by the way, we also thought you'd like to know that Grand Rapids City Attorney Phil Balkema's daughter works for the Attorney General's office, too. Thanks.

[Phyllis Jennings]

Bill,
I'm still waiting for those phone calls that you keep mentioning in your posts. This story needs to be told. Every family in this state should have the right to know what (or who) really killed their loved ones. For any person, organization or governmental entity to intentionally be obstructing and denying families that truth is the ultimate injustice, and those who are doing so need to be held accountable. Thanks.

[Nicole Smith]

What have you all been smoking?!?!?!?!? Where is your proof? Is this one of those websites where you can slander anybody and get away with it because nothing has to be truthful on the web? Why don't you get a life.

[Guess What]

I checked your email address and you call yourself fiddlefreak. Anyone who would willing call themselves a freak of any sort has some serious self examination to do and this explains your defense of Dr. Cohle.

[The Executive Director]

Ms. Smith:

I take it from your lack of comment that our article of January 9th, in which we laid out Dr. Cohle's conflict of interest and the adverse impact it has had on at least three local families, satisfied your need for more specific information about this issue.

Regards,
Bill Tingley
Executive Director

[The Executive Director]

Guess What:

Insulting other readers is inappropriate. Furthermore, what do Ms. Smith's hobbies have to do with anything? Please refrain from further baseless invective.

Regards,
Bill Tingley
Executive Director

[Guess What]

Ms. Smith asked what we all were smoking and said get a life and that was an insulting. Ms. Smith insulted you and the families involved with what Dr. Cohle is doing and she also insulted everyone that's affected by his private profit off of a public facility "the Kent County Medical Examiners Office". On the other hand my comment was not meant to be an insult it was an opinion. In fact Ms. Smith insulted herself by calling herself a freak. I did not call her a freak. I feel that if you're going to get on someone's case and accuse them of slander but degrade yourself in the process maybe it's time to rethink things. Since when did self examination become an insult? It's something that we all must do to keep ourselves in line me included. It just so happens that what you wrote about Dr. Cohle was considered by Ms. Smith to be slander. You stated facts and gave opinion based on those facts just like I did. Ms. Smith had nothing to base her attack on and did not give one shred of evidence to support Dr. Cohle. For the families that are facing the hardships that Dr. Cohle has created Ms. Smiths comments added insult to injury and deeply wounded one family member in particular that's already getting picked on by other County Officials as well as the Kent County Probate Court. I received a call from this family member and after reviewing it I don't see any reason for Ms. Smith to think drugs would be involved in how you presented the facts on Dr. Cohle. In fact I did not know about Ms. Smith's comment until I received the phone call from the upset family member that asked for my moral support. As for getting a life families are grieving over deaths that were not properly investigated by Dr. Cohle and as a result the crimes of health care professionals are being covered up by Dr. Cohle yet the County pays him his $54, 000.00 a year. It's almost as if the County is paying Dr. Cohle to protect the health care professionals and not the community. I have seen the falsified medical examiners report and I have compared it to the medical records and in doing so I have seen the proof that Dr. Cohle willingly and knowingly presented false evidence and gave false statements to the Kent County Board of Commissioners. The Board of Commissioners in turn are spreading the lies that Dr. Cohle has been telling without looking into the facts and his lies are so easily uncovered that with just a little investigation the County Commissioners could have ousted Dr. Cohle on integrity alone. I could be wrong but I thought that falsifying medical reports was a crime. I don't mind adverse comments as long as they are based on tangiable facts therefore when someone says what are you smoking and get a life I find that to be far more insulting and Ms. Smith needs to get some facts.

[A.G.]

It's a shame that no attorneys (or anyone else) in Michigan would ever work with these families on their cases. Maybe there are attorneys (or others) from other states who think this conflict of interest needs to be addressed, and who will help these families find out what really happened to their deceased loved ones. Sure hope so!