Arrested for impersonating a doctor now he's an actual doctor. Should he be able to match ?

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BorderlineQueen

BorderlineQueen

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www.latimes.com

He went to jail as a fake doctor. Now he’s a real one: The saga of Adam Litwin, MD

When someone mistook him for a resident at UCLA Medical Center, he didn't correct them.
www.latimes.com www.latimes.com

What a wild story. 20 years ago this man Adam Litwin was charged with impersonating a doctor. He attended surgery rounds and watched attendings perform procedures. He also forged prescriptions for tranquilizers and cough medicine. He also was caught shoplifting. He failed to match the first time and will be trying again this year. He also attended St James medical school in the Carribean. My question is do you think he should be able to match and practice medicine?
 
Terry Toma said:
"But his disguise was far from perfect. Litwin wore a lab coat unlike anyone else’s: It carried a silk-screened picture of his face and name."

Wait, is this not normal?
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Idk keep in mind this was 20 years ago .
 
The biggest problem this person has is he went to a carib school, graduated in 6 years, AND has this weird past. I suspect that his biggest hindrance is academics. It seems like the expert they interviewed would agree.
275446
 
There is so much wrong / such crappy reporting in this story I don't know where to start.

He gets caught impersonating a physician and illegally prescribing. Goes to jail in 2000. Says in the article that he's "learned his lesson". Yet tells a woman he's meeting in 2006 that he's a Cardiologist. Yep. Totally learned his lesson.

More than 4 years for medical school. I doubt it was a prestigious research fellowship.

Unlikely to be able to get a training license.

Apparently applied for a Missouri license and was declined. Seems like his bigger problem is applying for a license with no GME experience. I expect he really applied for one of their Assistant Physician licenses and was turned down.

Now that he has not matched in FM, he's decided to apply to psych. Bad news, psych is more competitive than FM. And they are going to be really concerned about someone with a clear narcissistic personality.
 
BorderlineQueen said:
www.latimes.com

He went to jail as a fake doctor. Now he’s a real one: The saga of Adam Litwin, MD

When someone mistook him for a resident at UCLA Medical Center, he didn't correct them.
www.latimes.com www.latimes.com

What a wild story. 20 years ago this man Adam Litwin was charged with impersonating a doctor. He attended surgery rounds and watched attendings perform procedures. He also forged prescriptions for tranquilizers and cough medicine. He also was caught shoplifting. He failed to match the first time and will be trying again this year. He also attended St James medical school in the Carribean. My question is do you think he should be able to match and practice medicine?
Click to expand...

No
 
aProgDirector said:
There is so much wrong / such crappy reporting in this story I don't know where to start.

He gets caught impersonating a physician and illegally prescribing. Goes to jail in 2000. Says in the article that he's "learned his lesson". Yet tells a woman he's meeting in 2006 that he's a Cardiologist. Yep. Totally learned his lesson.

More than 4 years for medical school. I doubt it was a prestigious research fellowship.

Unlikely to be able to get a training license.

Apparently applied for a Missouri license and was declined. Seems like his bigger problem is applying for a license with no GME experience. I expect he really applied for one of their Assistant Physician licenses and was turned down.

Now that he has not matched in FM, he's decided to apply to psych. Bad news, psych is more competitive than FM. And they are going to be really concerned about someone with a clear narcissistic personality.
Click to expand...
It sounds a bit like he pestered the author until she wrote it. Her Twitter has some interesting details that aren't in the article, such as describing him as "like Michael Scott from the Office." I'm gonna guess that isn't meant as a compliment for an... ahem, aspiring... medical professional.
 
AnatomyGrey12 said:
Abignale's life story is honestly one of the most fascinating things I've ever read about. I believe he was still giving lectures to FBI agents as recently as a few years ago.
Click to expand...
If anything that’s this guys play in the long run cuz he sure as hell won’t be a doc
 
Chibucks15 said:
If anything that’s this guys play in the long run cuz he sure as hell won’t be a doc
Click to expand...

Nah Abignale is a genius. I mean he legit passed the bar exam in Louisiana without going to any law school whatsoever, not to mention he actually really did turn his life around completely and use his unusual skills for good. This guy is just a narcissistic ***** with a stethoscope.
 
AnatomyGrey12 said:
Abignale's life story is honestly one of the most fascinating things I've ever read about. I believe he was still giving lectures to FBI agents as recently as a few years ago.
Click to expand...

Maybe he can teach other people how to successfully impersonate a resident if he really "learned his lesson". Then his MD would be put to some use...
 
kinjin24 said:
One guy is in jail and the other is now a physician...?? For doing the exact same thing. You actually made my point congratulations
Click to expand...

Malachi is in jail after his 3rd fraud case, wherein he stole $34,000 from an elderly woman
www-m.cnn.com

Fake teen doctor sentenced in fraud case | CNN

Teen doctor Malachi Love-Robinson has been seteneced in his Virginia fraud case.
www-m.cnn.com www-m.cnn.com
 
Now that he has been passed upon for two cycles (I think), could it be possible that he is now a President and Consultant for a Medical Consulting company, or would that be unusual?
 
Classic LA Times. This is the same "news" agency that vehemently tried to warn the public about how DO's aren't real physicians, correct?

"Though Litwin must still complete some training and licensing before he can treat patients on his own, he is an MD in the United States."

They sort of gloss by that fact, which of course is the only fact that matters.......
 
kinjin24 said:
One guy is in jail and the other is now a physician...?? For doing the exact same thing. You actually made my point congratulations
Click to expand...

White guy went to jail too... and apparently reading is hard because he isn’t actually a doctor in the US, and he got his medical degree from an offshore FedEx print and ship. Oh and did you know that kid is in jail for something else?

But sure, ignore all the facts to keep on trying to make this an example of white privilege. Carry on.
 
Sephirakra said:
It sounds a bit like he pestered the author until she wrote it. Her Twitter has some interesting details that aren't in the article, such as describing him as "like Michael Scott from the Office." I'm gonna guess that isn't meant as a compliment for an... ahem, aspiring... medical professional.
Click to expand...

For someone that has never watched the office, what does she mean by this association
 
mistafab said:
My favorite part about the article is this line:

“Still, Litwin said that when supervising doctors caught a glimpse of his medical acumen, they were impressed.”

The level of delusion here is palpable.
Click to expand...
Attending: Quick! Medical student! Name me the causes of anion-gap metabolic acidosis!!

Mr. Litwin, as an MS3: uhh, uhh, mm-mmu-mmu- MUDPILES!

Attending: Impressive medical acumen, medical student. You are by far one of the smartest medical students I have encountered in my years here. You will be an amazing physician one day.

Pass
 
raiderette said:
Why do I feel he hasn't learned from this? Using his Sub-I information as training sites? Putting the info for MD as a CEO of a healthcare company? Even being listed as a resident seems fraudulent.


www.caredash.com

Dr. Adam Litwin, MD - Resident - Chicago, IL - Write a Review

Get information about Dr. Adam Litwin, MD, a resident in Chicago, IL. Learn more about his background on CareDash.
www.caredash.com www.caredash.com
Click to expand...
the linked in profile seems fairly reasonable. Those are all things that he has done and he did list them as sub-Is . The care dash thing is weird , and im not sure who populates the information for that.
275548

The company thing is weird too it might be a self registered LLP or a figment of his imagination. Either way is not a good look for a person looking for a residency after having some issues surrounding deception.
 
libertyyne said:
The biggest problem this person has is he went to a carib school, graduated in 6 years, AND has this weird past. I suspect that his biggest hindrance is academics. It seems like the expert they interviewed would agree.
View attachment 275446
Click to expand...

I wouldn't call impersonating a medical professional and writing fake prescriptions a "minor crime." Is this Harvard professor actually comparing Litwin's crimes to a DUI? I would consider this past behavior of his, much more concerning then the fact that he went to a Caribbean school. I bet it's safe to say that 60% of Caribbean graduates who matched did not have any such felony charges. And wouldn't writing fake narcotic scripts preclude doctors from getting licensed in most states?
 
kinjin24 said:
One guy is in jail and the other is now a physician...?? For doing the exact same thing. You actually made my point congratulations
Click to expand...

This is a really stupid point to make.

"HE'S BLACK AND IN PRISON AND HES WHITE AND A DOCTOR"

Litwin already went to prison. He is forty years old now.

????

This is literally one of the dumbest things I've ever read on this site, and that's a remarkably high bar.
 
Isoval said:
This is a really stupid point to make.

"HE'S BLACK AND IN PRISON AND HES WHITE AND A DOCTOR"

Litwin already went to prison. He is forty years old now.

????

This is literally one of the dumbest things I've ever read on this site, and that's a remarkably high bar.
Click to expand...
I clearly struck a nerve with white men in this thread 🤣

I’m sorry I’ll pretend like your privilege is non existent
 
BidingMyTime said:
I wouldn't call impersonating a medical professional and writing fake prescriptions a "minor crime." Is this Harvard professor actually comparing Litwin's crimes to a DUI? I would consider this past behavior of his, much more concerning then the fact that he went to a Caribbean school. I bet it's safe to say that 60% of Caribbean graduates who matched did not have any such felony charges. And wouldn't writing fake narcotic scripts preclude doctors from getting licensed in most states?
Click to expand...
According to the article he never treated any patients. And the charges were misdemeanors not felonies so by definition they would fall into minor crimes. I don't know the specifics of each state but the article doesn't make it clear that he forged a prescription for narcotics.
 
libertyyne said:
IDK IMO, it doesnt seem like he has done anything illegal or immoral over the past decade. His problem is not his past crimes but likely his application.
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It obviously has to be embellished. He has a sub-I in EM at Jackson Park as a time period to 8 months. That can’t be true.
 
This is a fascinating story.

But derailing it into race discussions is not appropriate and is off topic. Please keep the discussion about whether Dr Litwin should have been accepted to medical school (outside US so not really our jurisdiction) and whether he should be restricted from training in the US (my vote is yes, he should not be allowed to practice medicine due to the nature of his conviction).
 
libertyyne said:
According to the article he never treated any patients. And the charges were misdemeanors not felonies so by definition they would fall into minor crimes. I don't know the specifics of each state but the article doesn't make it clear that he forged a prescription for narcotics.
Click to expand...

Narcotics, tranquilizers, same thing. Once you forge a prescription for anything, you should not be allowed to obtain a medical or DEA license, regardless of whether or not you've paid your debt to society.
 
Mass Effect said:
Narcotics, tranquilizers, same thing. Once you forge a prescription for anything, you should not be allowed to obtain a medical or DEA license, regardless of whether or not you've paid your debt to society.
Click to expand...
Narcotics and tranquilizers are not the same thing. The second part is your opinion. Most states draw the line at felony convictions though for not obtaining licensure.
 
libertyyne said:
Narcotics and tranquilizers are not the same thing. The second part is your opinion. Most states draw the line at felony convictions though for not obtaining licensure.
Click to expand...
The difference between a "minor" and "major" offense as it pertains to practicing medicine is not as clear cut as misdemeanor vs. felony. There are plenty of misdemeanors that may require a minor penalty when it comes to the courts yet cast serious doubts about a person's professionalism, which is of paramount importance to practicing medicine and thus may appropriately give a medical board pause to grant a license. The semantics of narcotics vs. tranquilizers, while perhaps relevant to the courts, doesn't change the fact that by forging a prescription he was practicing medicine outside of his scope of practice (which at the time should have been NONE)--and that's a problem because you don't want someone who doesn't recognize their limits practicing medicine. Maybe he's changed in the past decade, but once you've done that once it becomes really hard to justify taking a chance on such a person when there are plenty of qualified people who DON'T have that stain on their record.

Furthermore, as I think you said yourself, this entire discussion is likely moot. While the article was delightful clickbait which painted him in a very sympathetic light, there's no way that an IMG from a non-big 4 Carib school 2 years from graduation is going to match on his second (third?) application attempt in a more competitive specialty than the one he already failed to match.
 
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