Well we know Dr. Carpenter was arrested and criminally charged with fraud as a result of allegedly illegally obtaining controlled substances in Florida in late January. And we know there are 4 civil lawsuits pending against him in Michigan’s Ingham County Circuit Court alleging medical malpractice. Now it turns out Dr. Carpenter filed his own lawsuit mid-February against his former partners and Mid-Michigan Ear Nose and Throat P.C. alleging they wrongfully fired him at the end of May last year.
The lawsuit, case number 13-171-CD in Ingham County Circuit Court, alleges a younger partner on numerous occasions for several years made references to Dr. Carpenter’s age, now 58. In the complaint filed with the court, he goes into quite a bit of detail, through his lawyer refuting other claims his former partners made about him at the final “ambush” meeting on May 31, 2012, before putting Dr. Carpenter’s stuff out on the curb:
- His former partners no longer trusted him and feared that he may “turn” on them;
- His former partners alleged he used incorrect “coding” as to some of his services (insurance or governmental reimbursement for medical services is based on the “code” ascribed to the service or treatment);
- His former partners were concerned that he might have been involved in an illegal prescription incident involving the order of massive amounts of prescription painkillers such as Vicodin (a medical assistant was fired in 2011 and the former partners wanted to contact the police but Dr. Carpenter did not want to involve the police).
The lawsuit also alleges a very different story about his health than we have been led to believe. Dr. Carpenter’s testimony under oath at a deposition conducted September 28, 2012:
Q: Can you tell us, sir, what is your current status professionally?
A: Um, currently I’m technically disabled.
…
A: I have terminal metastatic cancer.
In his lawsuit he claims, in paragraphs 30 and 31 of his complaint, that in early 2012 he was diagnosed with a recurrence of cancer, but upon receiving treatment he was given “good news that the cancer had not spread and appeared to be in remission or gone altogether.”
This has led the judge in one of the cases pending against him to allow the plaintiff’s lawyer to re-depose Dr. Carpenter, at Dr. Carpenter’s expense, after Dr. Carpenter produces all his medical and pharmacy records from 2007 to the present for the court to review, as well as copies of his application for work at the Florida VA hospital.
Since writing my last post, I have been contacted by over 3 dozen people regarding Dr. Carpenter. Most have paralyzed vocal cords following surgery performed by him. Some worse. Some simply want to share their experiences about their treatment or the treatment of their children. Some want to talk and let me know what they know. There is something very wrong here and as I find out more I will let you know. Feel free to contact me with any information you have or if I can help you.
