Doctoring the Truth
Welcome to Doctoring the Truth, a podcast where two dedicated audiologists dissect the world of healthcare gone rogue. Explore jaw-dropping stories of medical malfeasance, nefariousness, and shocking breaches of trust. The episodes provide deep dives that latch onto your curiosity and conscience. It's a podcast for truth-seekers craving true crime, clinical insights, and a dash of humor.
Doctoring the Truth
Ep 26-Murder by MRI, Plus Malachi Love Robinson, Pretend-D
The silent danger lurking in every MRI machine isn't what most people expect: it's the fact that the powerful magnets never turn off. This revelation forms the heart of our exploration into preventable tragedies where everyday metal objects became deadly projectiles, claiming innocent lives.
Then, as Jenne promised, the lighter hearted case of Dr. Malachi Love Robinson...PretendD
Kanal, E., et al. (2007). ACR guidance document for safe MR practices. American Journal of Roentgenology, 188(6), 1447–1474.
Shellock, F. G. (2002). MRI safety: Review of incidents involving oxygen tanks and other hazards. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 15(5), 465–467.
Saini, A., et al. (2014). Adverse events in MRI: Risk factors and prevention strategies. Radiographics, 34(3), 778–793.
Thomsen, H. S., et al. (2013). Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis: Updated recommendations. Radiology, 267(1), 134–145.
Kim BG, Kim JW, Park JJ, Kim SH, Kim HN, Choi JY. Adverse Events and Discomfort During Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Cochlear Implant Recipients. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2015;141(1):45–52. doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2014.2926
Video Teen Arrested for Practicing Medicine Without a License Speaks Out - ABC News
Teen in Florida Pretends to Be Doctor - Malachi Love-Robinson | Teen Vogue
Top 12 Med Breakthroughs for Better Health This 2025 | IMI
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Stay safe, and stay suspicious...trust, after all, is a delicate thing!
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get ready for a wild ride baby, hello, hello amanda how are you? I just realized I did that differently.
Speaker 2:Normally I go amanda, you know what variety is good.
Speaker 1:Variety is good gotta keep people on your toes. Gotta keep those alley cats guessing, second guessing.
Speaker 2:I want them to be able to sing along to the intro every time. It's gonna have a little variety, right? But for real, how are ya? Aside from the fact that I'm really full right now, I'm doing good.
Speaker 1:Oh, do tell the listeners what you ate for dinner, my love.
Speaker 2:I'm outing you, I'm totally outing you, because I love it If your name's Peggy and you're listening to this. Please fast forward. I would normally say 30 seconds, but I can't tell a short story without it being long, so maybe like a minute and 42 seconds Fast forward, okay, thank you. So I was scheduling a grocery pickup from sam's club because, god forbid, I have to go into the actual store I mean, that's clever yeah, and I.
Speaker 2:It was like the app wanted to target me with reeses oh, you're speaking my language, my love language, and I was like I love a Reese's but it targeted me with Reese's Puffs and I can't tell you the last time I had cereal but I added those to the cart and I definitely had some today and then it was like, well, I definitely had some today and then it was like well, there's still milk, so I guess I'll put more cereal in there, and my stomach is not happy.
Speaker 1:I love that so much because it's like, first of all, basically, that is diet, reese's so good for you, for you know being health conscious, and second of all, you know, cereal is always for me like a haircut. It's like if you try to do your own haircut and you're like, oh, this side's a little higher than the other, and then you go, and then it's like it's like too much milk, not enough milk. Oh, now I've got too much cereal, more milk. I'm that way with Cheerios.
Speaker 2:It's a never ending cycle.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no gosh. So good for you for having a diet dinner, thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. I love that for you. You're so good.
Speaker 1:I think I'm going to have to sign up because I don't know if y'all remember I don't remember what episode it was that I got in trouble for snarfing Reese's on the sly. So what if?
Speaker 2:I went to diet yeah, only after the fact, because she told on herself, because I didn't actually see her eating Reese's.
Speaker 1:I'm like, don't you? I had to cut out so much rustling. I punished myself the rustling of getting the little skirt off the chocolate, but I guess I couldn't get away with eating Reese's Puffs the pod, because unless it's.
Speaker 3:ASMR feed no, way too crunchy, no one wants to hear the crunchy, crunch no or you just cause more work for yourself.
Speaker 2:This is why Reese's shapes are the most superior candy ever. They don't have that stupid little skirt. Like whatever, I'll still eat the Reese's with the skirt, but I will take a hundred times over a Reese's shape over the skirt. Reese's. No one wants a room of chocolate and by recent.
Speaker 1:Let's explain to the alley cats in case they don't understand fully we're talking the holiday show oh yeah, am I right? Yep oh, the Christmas tree, the tree oh okay, which one has the perfect amount of. I didn't even have to say peanut, peanut butter to chocolate ratio. You're like the hearts have me and they've always had me. They've always had my heart too. I, you and I are one-on-one on that. I absolutely maybe. Amanda, we need to go on february 15th.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know the day abs oh yeah the sam stuff and go and buy the 142 piece shape bucket when it's on sale, that's okay put it on the calendar. We're gonna do it. I'll meet you there, all right?
Speaker 2:okay, now that we've concluded our brief personal yeah, four minutes and 29 seconds of reese's puffs do?
Speaker 1:what do our listeners? Can our listeners handle that? I mean?
Speaker 2:I think it's pretty respectable, pretty reasonable yeah, if not, I guess I'm out of time in the car there's a forward 30 second button, so you can always hit that too yeah, screw you guys four times.
Speaker 1:Do we have any correction?
Speaker 2:I do have one. So it's not really a correction, more of a hey, you big ding dong. So you know, when I was talking about the medications and and it was like succ, and I was like I'm not saying that whole thing and you were like sounds like suck and I do remember that and so our friend Shannon texted me and said ha, ha, ha, oh no, when it starts with ha ha ha.
Speaker 1:You know you're in trouble. She was like you know you're in drubs.
Speaker 2:She was like it actually is just pronounced sucks.
Speaker 1:You guys are okay with that. I mean, come on Really.
Speaker 2:And I was like no. So I asked Mahani and I said this medication, da da da. You know what is it called for short? He's like sucks and I'm like of course, okay.
Speaker 1:No one has a problem with that. I mean it's funny, am I right? It's like if it was fart, if it was like phenylaluminamine something with rhizobone.
Speaker 3:Totally.
Speaker 1:And you said oh well, that's the acronym for fart. I mean, how would you ever talk about that bed without just busting into a gut laugh?
Speaker 2:Well, I suppose if you're typically using it before you intubate someone, the mood is maybe a little more serious. I don't know.
Speaker 1:Okay, we're taking a timeout pause before we start surgery. Okay, laugh, pause, surgeon. Okay, patient name Date of Okay, laugh, pause, surgeon. Okay, patient name. Date of birth, allergies, fire risk and medications Fart Perfect.
Speaker 2:I agree.
Speaker 1:That's why they don't let me in the OR very often.
Speaker 2:I love the OR so much. I know it's such a different world it really is and it's, it's, it's a fun world Can be Like, first of all, your patients are.
Speaker 1:if you're starting to burn out and your patients are all out, you don't have to talk to anybody.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a plus, the only, the only downside, like I guess, for our specific work that we do in the OR, everyone's always like are you almost done, how long is this going? This gonna be? Or like where you're slotted for a certain amount of time and they're like so we'll be done by this time, right, because we got to get another case in here and it's like no, I was slotted for this amount of time, like I hope you brought a book and it's like I know it's not dramatic, that there's not blood spurting everywhere and, like you know, cleavers and and and and things that are holding things open and multiple people running around.
Speaker 1:So I always tell the staff when I have a case I'm like, consider this a little bit of you time, just chill. Yeah, it's fine. And they laugh.
Speaker 1:I mean, back in the olden days they used to bring me coffee and we'd play music, and they don't let us do that anymore, probably for a good reason. But listen, this week I promised that when I talked next, because I talked about Dr Luskornik, the blight on the pimple of the blight of the world it was so dark and so bad that I was going to do something lighthearted. And so I started doing something lighter hearted. I mean, it's not nothing we talk about on here. Allie Katz is light, light, lighthearted, without its consequences, you know. But I went down a dark hole because I saw an article about dying from an MRI. So we're going to talk a little bit about MRI deaths and then we have a bonus case because it was a little more lighthearted and there wasn't a whole lot of substance behind it, like not enough for a full episode. So we're going to talk about something rare and horrifying and then we'll talk about a lighthearted case towards the end.
Speaker 2:I love it. Sound good. Yeah, sounds great. I was kind of worried for a second that we weren't gonna hear about dr love. Oh no, we're gonna just listen way to, way to spoiler alert oh well, you said last week what it was called. Oh, did I. Okay, I spoiled it. Last week. I believe you said dr love dr love.
Speaker 1:yeah, we're gonna talk Love. He's our little bonus case, because I couldn't help but talk about the MRI, because there are a lot of preventable deaths, like a lot of preventable injuries and stuff that I just felt compelled to talk about. But first let's talk about our sponsor, amanda. Let's do it.
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Speaker 1:I'll tell you about my nails dot my nail stocks my dog's nails clicking on the floor no, I'm laughing because we go all these fun flavors like razz, lime, chai, cherry, ginger, orange and then, I don't know, shimmerwood. Come on guys.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I know I was like I'm not going to talk about the rope again.
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Speaker 2:They call it just hemp, so it's so if you want to find, if you, if you want to find these friends you would visit, visit wwwshimmerwoodcom for an exclusive 30 off with our discount code. Stay suspicious, oh I love that.
Speaker 1:I'm laughing because you know we go back and forth about the whole ww. I mean, who can say three? W's in a row without sounding and and certainly everyone pretty much knows, unless you're 92, ah, that there's w's no hate to any 92 year olds.
Speaker 1:No, I love you guys, you nonagenarians, non, are they nonagenarian? Nonagen? What's a 90 year old? There's octogenarians and nonagenarians. I have no idea. Okay, well, that's probably going to end up in a correction section next week. Okay, While the resources for this episode are listed on the website lots of different articles and websites the trigger warning is that, unfortunately, this content does involve a child dying. So it was supposed to be a routine scan a six-year-old boy just out of brain surgery, a machine that sees inside the body without a single incision, no knives, no radiation. No knives, no radiation, just magnetic fields. Then suddenly an oxygen tank is ripped across the room and it hits him in the skull. The boy dies. I know In another part of the world, years later, a man walks into a hospital MRI suite to help his aging relative. He's holding an oxygen cylinder. The magnet doesn't care, oh my god, across the globe. So today we're looking into something most of us never questioned the MRI.
Speaker 1:It's safe, non-invasive, trusted. But under the wrong circumstances it can become lethal. So let's start with what an MRI is. Mri stands for magnetic resonance imaging. It's a type of scan that uses a powerful magnet, radio waves and a computer to create detailed images of the body's organs and tissues. There's no radiation involved, which is part of why it's considered so safe. But here's the thing the magnet in an MRI machine is always on, not just during the scan always. I don't think people realize that. So in most hospital machines that magnetic field measures between 1.5 and 3 Tesla. That's tens of thousands of times stronger than the Earth's magnetic field. So what does that mean in practice? It means that anything ferromagnetic oxygen tanks, wheelchairs, even paperclips can become high-speed projectiles and if they're pulled into the scanner while someone's inside it can be fatal. So let's look at our first case.
Speaker 1:In 2001, six-year-old Michael Colombini had recently undergone surgery to remove a benign brain tumor. He was scheduled for a follow-up MRI at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, new York. The day of the scan, michael was wheeled into the MRI suite and at some point a metal oxygen tank was brought in. The tank was instantly pulled into the machine by the magnetic field. It struck Michael in the head. He went into a coma and died two days later. The investigation afterward revealed systemic failures improper training, poor room setup, unclear responsibilities. Even the doors weren't locked or labeled correctly. A lawsuit followed. So did national outrage. In 2010, records filed in westchester county revealed that the family settled a lawsuit for 2.9 million. Michael's death became a chilling case study in what can happen when medical safety protocols break down and and unfortunately it wasn't the last time Fast forward to 2018.
Speaker 1:In Mumbai, india, 32-year-old Rajesh Maru accompanied a family member to a government hospital for an MRI. Reports say a hospital staff member instructed him to bring in an oxygen tank to assist the patient. An oxygen tank to assist the patient. Despite signs warning against metal in the MRI suite, Rajesh walked in, cylinder in hand, as instructed. The machine's magnet pulled it from him instantly. He was crushed against the scanner and sustained fatal injuries. The hospital initially tried to distance itself, but eyewitness accounts and CCTV footage made it clear the staff had told him it was safe. Rajesh's family received compensation, but no one could give them back what was lost. So two deaths 17 years apart, both caused by the same invisible force, apart, both caused by the same invisible force. So these horrific cases made me look up.
Speaker 1:If there's such a thing as anything safer, a safer type of MRI. So let's break it down. A regular MRI is the one most of us are familiar with the tunnel, the big tube, the humming. It uses a strong magnetic field, typically 1.5 to 3 Tesla, and gives high quality images. But then there's the open MRI. It's shaped more like a donut or two plates. This is designed for comfort and is ideal for patients with claustrophobia or those with larger bodies. But here's the catch Open MRIs usually use a lower magnet strength, often below 1 Tesla, so the images aren't as sharp and some conditions can be missed.
Speaker 1:Now, is an open MRI safer? Not really. Both types still use powerful magnets. Both are dangerous if safety protocols are ignored. A metal object will fly just as fast in either room. So while open MRIs are more comfortable, they're not immune to the same deadly risks. And when hospital staff cut corners, that's where the real danger lies. So Michael and Rajesh's cases fall into the same deadly category projectile injuries.
Speaker 1:But that's not the only way people have died inside or because of MRI machines. So let's walk through the four major types. Projectile injuries like we've seen ferromagnetic objects become deadly when introduced into the MRI room Tanks, tools, even stretchers. If it's magnetic, the MRI will pull it. Thermal burns is the next one. So the radiofrequency energy used in scans can heat up metallic items. So ECG leads, medication patches, piercings, even tattoos. If these create a conductive loop, they can cause second or third degree burns and in rare cases those burns can lead to fatal infections.
Speaker 1:Implant interference, some pacemakers, aneurysm clips and neurostimulators are not MRI compatible, so exposure can cause the device to move or fail. For patients with hidden or undeclared devices, this has resulted in fatal arrhythmias or internal bleeding. And the last category, contrast-related deaths. And the last category, contrast-related deaths MRI contrast agents like gadolinium are generally safe, but in rare cases they can cause fatal allergic reactions or trigger nephrogenic system fibrosis, which is a devastating condition in patients with kidney disease. Each category reflects a different point of failure screening, communication, equipment choice or basic human error. In the next section we'll take a closer look at a couple of those Real stories, real deaths, all preventable. So it's July 2025, which it is now in Westbury, New York.
Speaker 1:I was like I spoke about it, like it's the path, Well, maybe, I mean this is going to come out. How many days are in July?
Speaker 2:31?, uh, 31. 31.
Speaker 1:Okay, this will still come out the squeaky end of July. So Adrienne Jones McAllister let's start that over. Adrienne Jones McAllister was lying inside an MRI scanner at NASA Open MRI, scheduled for a scan on her knee. She asked the technician to get her husband, Keith McAllister, to help her off the table. Keith entered the MRI room wearing a 20-pound weight training chain around his neck. It was an accessory that he frequently wore chain around his neck. It was an accessory that he frequently wore. The magnetic field yeah, apparently had something to do with weight training I I've I've never seen such a thing.
Speaker 2:I'm like picturing a dog collar yeah what apparently had something to do.
Speaker 1:Weight training like I, I, I don't know.
Speaker 2:so I mean no shade on way.
Speaker 1:I've never seen anything like that, so I was like wait one would take a 20 pound metal chain around someone's neck, would draw some attention. Am I right?
Speaker 2:I mean you know I would, I would think so. It's not a small chain or like or like, because obviously you haven't gotten there but obviously the MRI machine's gonna grab this poor chain. How about the staff just say, like we'll help you off the table and get you to Keith, exactly right, she's there for her knee.
Speaker 1:This is so tragic. So the magnetic field didn't care about context. It grabbed the chain with invisible, unrelenting force. God, this part gets me every time. Adrian says she called out to him and within seconds the machine pulled him forward. The chain yanked him in and he struck the mri scanner with a terrible impact. She screamed for someone to turn the machine off. Call 9-1-1 was too late. They tried to pull him off it and they couldn't. He waved goodbye to me, adrian said later in an interview, I know. And then his whole body went limp. Oh my God. So I thought maybe he he died from the impact. But he actually died from suffering multiple heart attacks after being freed from the machine. So he died the next day. Oh, how tragic. And you and you I mean just senseless. This wasn't a case of an unsupervised visitor sneaking in. A tech had summoned keith into the room despite him visibly wearing a massive chain, the same kind of chain that in m MRI. Safety training would be the first thing mentioned in a what not to wear list.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no kidding, I'm like picturing, like my learning appointment or appointment, my learning thing that you usually have to do at work, you know, and it's like click on the picture of, like all the things that shouldn't be in this room. Man's 20 pound chain yeah.
Speaker 1:Oxygen tank. Yeah, oh, my gosh. Yeah. So this case happened in an open MRI suite. So it debunks the myth that open MRIs are inherently safer, because even a lower strength magnet doesn't mean lower stakes they're still super, super strong magnets, All right. So the next type of issue is implant interference. So let's talk about implants.
Speaker 1:Roughly three million people in the US alone have implanted pacemakers. Many more have cochlear implants, spinal stimulators, aneurysm clips or metal orthopedic hardware. Not all of these are MRI safe, and some are only safe under very specific conditions. In one chilling case from Germany in 2014, a 72-year-old man with a pacemaker entered an MRI suite. Despite warnings, he was scanned without proper evaluation of his device. Midway through the scan, his pacemaker began to malfunction. The magnetic field caused electrical interference that triggered a fatal arrhythmia and he died on the table. In another case in the US, a woman with an older non-MRI-compatible neurostimulator for chronic pain underwent a brain scan. The magnetic field caused her implant leads to heat and shift position. She went into seizures and never regained consciousness. What's heartbreaking is that these deaths often come down to communication breakdowns, outdated patient records, rushed intake processes or clinicians unaware of the full risks. And I couldn't talk about implants without looking at cochlear implants.
Speaker 2:So I was hoping you were going to, because we talk about this all the time, right, like doing a yeah this is our area, yes.
Speaker 1:So I found a study from the Journal of American Medical Association in 2015, where they did a study, a retrospective study in South Korea of 16 patients who underwent with cochlear implants who underwent MRI in a 1.5 Tesla scanner and two that underwent MRI in a 3.0 Tesla scanner. 12 brain MRIs were performed and 18 of those scans were performed in areas outside the brain. Before we get into it, one of the things that we've learned from our cochlear implant training is that you would think like, oh well, if they're not looking at something in the brain, it's probably not a big deal. Actually, the torque, the actual force on a body part, increases the farther away it is from the implant. So someone who's going in for like their foot is at a higher risk because their implants in their head and the amount of force that can or torque that can be created in that situation is is much greater than if they had actually needed to scan of something in their head or neck.
Speaker 2:Because it's exactly the opposite of what you would think.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah. So their main outcomes was that were that people experienced discomfort and pain, adverse events and auditory adverse auditory performance after MRI. So 13 out of the 18 patients completed their MRI scans, so 25 out of 30 scans. The MRI company, so the cochlear implant companies, either tell you this is completely compatible because it's a recent device that has like a magnet that'll flip if it's pulled on. But some of the older devices they're like well, it's safe if you wrap their head in a bandage, like it basically wrap their head in an ACE bandage in a certain way. And then others were like it's only safe if you go under the skin and take the magnet out. So there's a magnet under the skin that holds on the external speech processor. And so some of the older implants, you would have to have an ear, nose and throat surgeon come in and pull out this little magnet that's under the skin flap. So it's not really brain surgery but it's like removing the magnet, which would be the problem in the whole thing. So just a little background there 13 out of 18 patients that completed them, five patients with head bandages were unable to complete their MRI scans because it was so painful and one of those patients experienced magnet displacement, so the part that is supposed to be in a certain place so they could connect their external processor moved. Another had to undergo surgery for magnet removal and reinsertion. And finally, one patient experienced polarity reversal of the magnet. So basically the MRI flipped the magnet inside their head so they could no longer wear the external speech processor. And then on top of that there are artifacts induced by the internal magnet that compromise the diagnosis of ipsilateral brain lesions.
Speaker 1:Under 1.5 Tesla MRI, auditory performance in the cochlear implant recipients who had major events was unaffected, so that's good news. Affected so that's good news. So even with the company's warnings or claims that they could use these protective head bandages, 1.5 Tesla MRI in patients with cochlear implants led to a variety of adverse events, including discomfort, pain and displacement of the internal magnet. So what the article went on to recommend is that sedation and careful head positioning may be appropriate for patients with cochlear implants who undergo MRI. So just because they're saying it's compatible doesn't mean it's painful. Not painful, you know. And as people who work with these patients like I, think it's good for us to know that that's a consideration. It could be painful us to know that that's a consideration. It could be painful. So today many new devices are labeled MRI conditional, but that doesn't mean universally safe. It means that if certain guidelines are followed exactly specific scanner strength, body position, temperature limits it might be okay. But one missed detail could be fatal. And so, unlike a projectile, death, implant interference leaves no dramatic impact, no visible object flying across the room, just silence, sudden collapse and cardiac arrest. That's another reminder that in the MRI suite invisible forces are always at work, and so the last type of issue here we're going to talk about is contrast agents.
Speaker 1:So MRI contrast agents, like gadolinium-based compounds, are widely used to enhance image quality. So they're generally considered safe, but there are exceptions. In rare cases patients can have a severe allergic reaction to these agents Anaphylaxis which can be fatal without prompt treatment. There's also a condition called nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, or NSF, which primarily affects patients with kidney failure. Nsf causes thickening and hardening of the skin and internal organs and sometimes leads to death. So NSF is linked to gadolinium exposure during MRI scans in patients with compromised kidney function. So because of these risks, patients are carefully screened for kidney disease before contrast-enhanced MRIs, but still cases slip through the cracks. Contrast-related deaths are rare, but a stark reminder that no medical procedure is without risk.
Speaker 1:When we look at these tragic cases projectile injuries, thermal burns, implant interference, contrast reactions a pattern emerges Most deaths aren't caused by the machines themselves, but by systemic failures, failures in communication, training, hospital policies. So hospitals often rely on checklists, but when they're rushed or understaffed those can be ignored or overlooked. Patients sometimes aren't properly screened for metal implants or allergy risks. Staff may lack proper MRI safety training or assume, well, it won't happen here. And also technology. I think we all feel this in all walks of life that technology keeps advancing, but safety culture struggles to keep up. So what can be done? Well, hospitals need robust MRI safety protocols enforced at every level. There needs to be continuous staff education on the hazards of MRI and clear signage and physical barriers to prevent unauthorized or casual access. And, most importantly, a culture where safety isn't optional, because in the MRI suite the stakes are life and death. Every scan must be treated with respect and caution for patients and staff alike Wowzers.
Speaker 1:I know, Sorry, that was a little darker than I intended, but I couldn't believe my eyes. So I mean, if one person learns something like don't wear a chain if they don't tell you not to into the MRI suite, yeah, or even just like accomplished my goal declaring something you maybe wouldn't have thought of before there are certain tattoos, I think I briefly hit on it, but like there are tattoos that have metallic injection, like not in metallic but metallic dyers and stuff, that apparently can be a problem too, so are they asking?
Speaker 2:you imagine sitting in there and your tattoo starts just feeling on fire and they're like don't move.
Speaker 1:And you're like my fucking arms are exactly, but also who wants to get in there and have a burn, you know yeah, no this, I've never had an mri, but this certainly feeds anxiety before, yeah and I hope, I hope I don't do that, but just more like awareness of like yeah, for sure it is safe and it's super important for diagnostics. But like make sure you got all your stuff off of you because this is so simple.
Speaker 2:And make sure no one walks in an oxygen tank, please, because I don't want it to smash my freaking head.
Speaker 1:No, it's not funny, but it's so ridiculous yeah.
Speaker 2:That's not funny, but oh my gosh, I was just like picturing that guy flying across the room into the machine with the tank. I'm stressed, that's so crazy, and like the fact that they're always on even when it's not running yeah, I guess I never thought of that either.
Speaker 1:You always think, oh, they're turning it on, but you don't turn a magnet on. It's always a magnet, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, it's always. Yeah, I know I never have thought of that either, and I was thinking back to in graduate school. The psychology folks were the floor above us and they had an MRI machine where they did research and on the weekends, where we go into practice electrophys, we would just sometimes get the worst artifacts and we're like what the hell?
Speaker 1:is going on in this building but it was definitely.
Speaker 2:We were like they must be running MRIs up there, but no, they weren't running MRIs, it's just a freaking magnet.
Speaker 1:They were just still being magnets.
Speaker 2:They're magnets, magneting it was just a bad, bad place for us to do ABRs yeah.
Speaker 1:Magnets Below the magnet Magnets can't stop magneting, magneting.
Speaker 2:Magnets love magneting, magneting.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, that's crazy. You guys are a floor below, so that's crazy.
Speaker 2:If anyone from WW is listening to this, move the electrophys equipment, because the magnet's going to magnet. Wait, we went to the same school.
Speaker 1:Hold on, I'm like, was that Park?
Speaker 2:Wait, you went to my alma mater. No, it's a totally different building.
Speaker 1:Okay, so it wasn't Park's hall, okay, no, it's a totally different building.
Speaker 2:Okay, so it wasn't.
Speaker 1:Parks Hall From when you were there. Okay, no, it's a whole different building. Dr House and I are from the same Fun fact. On the water W-W-U, all the way, dab dab, dab dab West of Washington.
Speaker 2:E-oo, love you, dab dab you. Yeah, so beautiful there. If you guys ever have a chance, go to Bellingham, washington, or, as my mother says, bellingham, bellingham. I like it, bellingham.
Speaker 1:Guess what we're at now. Guess where we are in our little journey here we're at the Chard, chard, no, oh, get, get it. Crane, oh, man Okay so we're gonna.
Speaker 2:She did some rock and roll at the end there, a little gravel.
Speaker 1:I put a little stank on it this time. I know I'm getting it, get it girl. It's Monday, alright, so this is where.
Speaker 2:Monday, it's Monday, I Woo-hoo, all right, so this is where Monday it's Monday, I'm Monday because now we've got Tuesday Tomorrow is going to get closer to the weekend, all right.
Speaker 1:So the chart note segment is where we learn about what's happening in medicine and health care. So I was like, all right, I promised something lighthearted and I did not deliver yet, and let's do something really uplifting. So I searched around like what's new, who's who in the zoo, what's happening in healthcare, and I found this company called Integrated Microelectronics Inc. And they they're. I looked at their blog and they posted their company's top 12 innovations to watch in 2025. Posted their company's top 12 innovations to watch in 2025. Good news, alleycats. I'm not going to read all 12., but I picked the top five that are poised to make a significant impact or continue evolving in exciting ways.
Speaker 2:Is it their top five or you picked the most intriguing to you top five?
Speaker 1:No, no, I picked their top five, but I find them intriguing nonetheless.
Speaker 2:So I don't know why you were like 11, seven, three, four.
Speaker 1:I mean, it wasn't that I didn't want to put the time in, but I figured these guys, you know, know what they're proud, proudest of, basically, these are probably they wouldn't promote them if they weren't performing well, you know, or looking.
Speaker 2:And if you guys want to know the rest, she's going to put the resources in the show notes.
Speaker 1:But am I?
Speaker 2:no, yes, I will, I don't know I was like I don't know, I think you are okay, number one eye tracking technology to aid surgical procedures.
Speaker 1:So extreme, I love this extreme vision technology. So this is just ripped right off their website. I'm'm not making any of this up, this is verbatim, possibly plagiarism, I don't know, but I'm giving them credit. So extreme vision technology is advancing healthcare through innovative eye tracking systems, particularly in radiology and surgery. Researchers at the University Health Network have developed a cost-effective gaze tracking solution tailored for operating rooms. This technology captures gaze data and displays it on surgical monitors, addressing system integration challenges. Okay, I left this here because I don't know what the hell it means. So we have had. Okay. So in audiology, we use eye tracking technology to look at, because the eyes are a window into the vestibular system and so when we stimulate the vestibular system, that system should tell the muscles around your eyes what to do to correct your gaze, so that things don't slip off your focus and make you feel dizzy. So I don't know. This stuff's been around. But like are they tracking the surgeon?
Speaker 2:because to me this sounds like I was a little speechless at the end of that paragraph because I was like, oh okay, eye tracking cool. Yeah, I know eye tracking. And then I was like who the fuck are?
Speaker 1:yeah, I think we're tracking the surgeons to see how distracted they are maybe like what are they looking at? That we could save time. Are we at that point where we have to be? I don't know. So stay tuned, listeners, because to me that's crazy, but maybe we can learn something about what to aid surgical procedures.
Speaker 2:What?
Speaker 1:I mean, do you have to tell the surgeon keep your eye on the in the area you're?
Speaker 2:delving into. I mean, I guess, like on gray's anatomy, there's a lot of drama.
Speaker 1:They're always fighting, so listen, don't worry about what dreamy's doing in the locker room. You guys need it. Focus, focus, focus on the yeah, yeah focus on the integrated microelectronics.
Speaker 2:I need more information.
Speaker 1:Thank you, so we'll keep an eye on that. There is a apparently a fresh treatment for schizophrenia, so the us fda recently approved coban oh god, I'm gonna say this wrong coban fee, coban phi, c-o-b-e-n-f-y. One of those fun made like coban, coban fee, a new product introduction into the field of psychiatry. Unlike dopamine targeting medications, coben Fee addresses schizophrenia symptoms with fewer side effects. I mean, who doesn't want fewer side effects?
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, we love fewer side effects.
Speaker 1:So there were some adverse reactions like nausea and dizziness, but further research is being done on its long-term efficacy. So I mean, I think anytime we get a psychiatric drug that can address something as significant as schizophrenia I mean without the symptoms, because I think a lot of times people aren't able to tolerate some of their symptoms, and yet schizophrenia is, you know, not easily lived with. So so that's good. And then number three a non-intrusive miRNA based platform to lower stillbirth rates. So imperial college researchers in london have created an innovative testing solution to address the risks of small for gestational age babies, particularly in premature births. So, using maternal blood samples, their platform detects micro RNA biomarkers linked to SGA risks early. So this is a cost effective method that integrates seamlessly into routine pregnancy screenings. And I like that because you talked about I think it was last, last week, right About some of the biomarkers and things that we can learn from menstrual blood. So I like, I like this is just taking another, another way, another assay of information that we can use to help prevent or understand.
Speaker 2:I only chuckled because it was just last week where I was like assay, Assay, and you're just like it's so naturally in your regular life, Like it's just another assay. Listen, I was trying to figure out how to drop ass in a conversation.
Speaker 1:I was like I can say asinine or assay. So there you go. Number four tailored medicine. Hyper-personalized medicine allows tailoring treatments based on a patient's genetic makeup, lifestyle and environment. So there's lab testing, such as genetic analysis, that helps doctors prescribe medications that minimize side effects and enhance effectiveness. Who doesn't want that? So advancements library crisper, a precise gene editing technology which fun fact. My son had had access to crisper for one of his projects at school where he decided to redefine caterpillar's dna and grow something else. I mean this is crazy stuff. So this allows. I mean it has nothing to do with this medicine, but CRISPR gene editing will allow targeted DNA modifications to correct genetic disorders. And how you feel about that might be up in the air, because there's a lot behind this, but what's nice about it is that if you use it in wearable medical electronics, you can enable real-time health monitoring. So so that's good.
Speaker 1:And number five a breath-based human machine interface for communication. Researchers at case western reserve university have a low-cost, non-invasive human machine interface that uses breath patterns for communication. We we all love good communication. We're into communication disorders. So, unlike costly and invasive alternatives like brain computer interfaces and eye gaze trackers, this solution offers a simple way to assist those with disabilities in performing daily tasks. That's my favorite. I would put that number one, wouldn't you? That's my favorite. I would put that number one, wouldn't you? So if you can communicate using different breath patterns, like a quadriplegic or something that's amazing, I would love that.
Speaker 2:I would put that as number one as well, and then the baby testing at number three, and I'm not going to go through the rest, but I think eye tracking they should have written more on the paragraph. I still don't know what's happening.
Speaker 1:Sorry, allie Katz, I didn't do any research. I just pulled it right off the thing because I was looking for something positive and I had another case to do because we're going to talk about Dr Liv. We're going to talk about Dr Liv, so would you like to talk about our second?
Speaker 2:sponsor. Well, obviously, I would so sponsor number two today. My friends, my alley cats is strong coffee company who delivers premium instant blends for individuals who want convenience without compromising their health. Their signature black instant coffee packs 15 grams of protein, 5 grams of MCTs and 250 milligrams of adaptogens, including ashwagandha, for sustained energy, focus and calm without the jitters Prefer creamy. Their lattes contain collagen, hyalaluronic acid and healthy fats, blended with organic, aerobic coffee. With eco-friendly practices and fast delivery, strong coffee fuels your day deliciously and powerfully. Elevate your coffee routine with strong coffee company. Enjoy an exclusive discount from our promo code. Stay suspicious for 20% off your order at strongcoffeecompanycom.
Speaker 1:Thank you, amanda, and now You're welcome. In a strange turn of events, our medical mishap is actually our little bonus case here.
Speaker 2:Okay, I was like wait a second. She hid Dr Love from me. It says medical mishap, I mean.
Speaker 1:I'm just shaking it up here, girl. Listen, I don't know if it's the corn sweats that's out in minnesota this week or what, but, like I don't know, the heat's got my brain. We gotta, we gotta, mix it up same, same same. So this is a light-hearted case recommended by a listener who prefers to remain anonymous. So thank you for the recommendation. Unknown, thank you. Unknown. Thank you, because even in the world of health care or crime, sometimes the story is just hilarious. So let's meet malachi love robinson, or, as he preferred to be known, dr love, in.
Speaker 1:In 2016, malachi was arrested in west palm beach, florida, after opening up his very own medical clinic at just 18 years of age. Yeah, you heard that 18. No medical license, no degree, not even a biology class at community college. But he did have a white coat, a stethoscope and an impressively straight baby face. Listen, you guys will post a picture of this, this cute little baby faced boy. But he is. I don't know how he got away with this stuff, because he is. He's got such a baby face I can't even describe it any other way. Anyway, he called his operation the new birth, new birth, new life, medical center and urgent care. Fancy name, right? Patients thought so. Some of them were seen for minor ailments and others were prescribed holistic treatments, and one even got a physical exam.
Speaker 1:But here's where it gets weirder. This wasn't Malachi's first rodeo. What Are you kidding me? He's only 18. Oh, ellie Katz, he'd been caught impersonating doctors before. At age 17 he was busted wandering the halls of a real hospital dressed like a physician and introducing himself as a doctor of naturopathy.
Speaker 1:When this guy cracks me up. When security stopped him, he explained very politely that he just had a passion for helping people, a passion and apparently a very convincing bedside manner. So who is this shyster? Well, his name is Matthew Scheit Jr. I love that his true name is Scheit. I mean, it's telling right there. That's not nice, but when Matthew was in grade school school, he told his classmates that his father was a police officer and his mother was a nurse. He told them he lived in a lovely house with a manicured lawn, and none of this was true. Sadly, in reality, matthew's parents divorced when he was five years old and he lived in a florida trailer park where he watched his mother get arrested for possession of crystal meth. I am sad. You can feel sad for the boy. I mean this is not great.
Speaker 1:Matthew Scheidt was forced to grow up too quickly. At the age of 12, he participated in the Osceola County Sheriff's Office Volunteer Explorer Program, which teaches the basics of law enforcement to future law enforcement officers. At the same time, he volunteered at a Florida hospital because he also had an interest in medicine. Enter sense of foreshadowing here. Yeah, a pathological liar. Matthew lied about his age to get into both of these programs. At age 17, matthew was living on his own. He was taking high school classes online and working a part-time summer job as a file clerk at a surgical company in Kissimmee. One of his job duties there was to run documents back and forth between the Osceola Regional Medical Center across the street.
Speaker 1:On one of these occasions, in August 2011, matthew approached the hospital's human resources department. He told them that he was a 23 year old. Okay, he's 17. He told that with a baby face. He told them he was a 23 year old physician assistant student at Nova Southeastern University. He claimed that he was assigned to Dr Ramirez and needed an ID badge to grant him access to the emergency room. Right, so the HR employee just took Matthew's word for it. She printed the requested credentials instantly. Right then and there. Matthew then bought some apps for his phone and some books to learn medical technology For the next two weeks.
Speaker 1:He began donning scrubs, a pager and a stethoscope. He wandered the halls of the osceola regional medical center's emergency room. He interviewed patients, conducted physical exams, access confidential medical records. Sometimes he was even asked to help restrain unruly patients or hold the hand of a child receiving stitches. He became bolder. He tried to use his Osceola Regional badge to enter a different medical center but was turned away. So he kept pestering HR at Osceola Regional to give him access to the restricted part of the hospital. Finally, a red flag was raised. Someone double-checked his qualifications and discovered that there were none, so they happily called the police.
Speaker 1:On September 2, 2011, matthew was arrested and interrogated for three hours. He was defiant. Initially he blamed the HR staff for entering the physician's assistant designation into the computer system in error. We had a victim blame dude. I know. Quote. He says I just want to find out who did this and report it to the system and then have whoever did this fired, because apparently they were there to ignore it in order to maintain that position. End quote.
Speaker 1:Matthew told the detective Quote this is my future. This is everything. I no longer have a job. I no longer work for the sheriff's office. Those are the only two things I ever wanted in life. End quote. Matthew was referring to his time in the volunteer explorer program when he was 12. He no longer worked at the sheriff's office because he had been caught repeatedly wearing his badge and bulletproof vest in public, pretending to be a real deputy. Oh my gosh, that's just reminds me. Uh, for our any office fans out there. Dwight shrewt when he was given security accent. He was gonna be senior security officer, which was like this fake designation, and he took it way too seriously. Anyway, matthew went on to say that he never claimed to be a pa or an md or anything like that not once at all.
Speaker 1:Eventually, during the interrogation, matthew admits to making a mistake. Quote I messed up. End quote. He told the detective I just wanted to learn as much as I possibly could for the longest time that I could, basically before I got caught. End quote. Regarding an incident in which he performed CPR, matthew stated he only performed CPR for a minute or two while a doctor retrieved the necessary medications. Quote I swear to God, I did not do nothing. End quote First of all, matt, you did not have correct grammar, and that Allie Katz. If anyone knows me, they know I consider that a federal offense and by the way I do that patient ended up dying. So that's not funny, that's terribly tragic.
Speaker 2:Probably because they weren't getting CPR correctly for one to two minutes.
Speaker 1:This doesn't mean that bystanders shouldn't complete CPR, but these doctors thought there was another doctor providing this care. You know what I mean. Like it was a different level. It wasn't like a member of the public.
Speaker 2:So you know, if that had been the case, Well and even like if a regular member of the public is there to do that. Typically they call 911 at the same time and the dispatcher is telling them what to do. That Typically they call 911 at the same time and the dispatcher is telling them what to do. They're not just willy-nilly, like I saw this on TV pump the hands up and down.
Speaker 1:It's like what? For sure, for sure. That's a good point. At the end of the interrogation, matthew wrote an apology letter to the Osceola Regional Medical Center. He apologized and said, quote I've learned to mature. I'm so sorry and owe your hospital the biggest apology Period. End quote. The Osceola Regional Medical Center released a statement of its own. Quote patients, this is called a CYA statement. Basically, cover your ass. We love a CYA from my hospital. Yes, we will continue our review of hospital practices to ensure that this will not occur again. End quote. Somebody's in trouble. Thanks, guys. On october 6, 2011, matthew was formally charged as an adult with two counts of impersonating a physician's assist assistant and four counts of practicing medicine without a license. He pleaded not guilty. His trial was set for the following year. So meanwhile, on september 2nd 2011, matthew was cruising around south beach in its recently purchased white crown, victoria, which we all know which I'm like.
Speaker 2:How did you even have any money? You were a fake person working at the fake hospital.
Speaker 1:Like you, did not get a paycheck right I did no, no, no, no, no, you just barged this way in there. But also a white crown fake person working at the fake hospital. Like you did not get a paycheck Right, I didn't. No, no, no, no, no, you just barged this way in there. But also white crown Victoria looks like it's a police car, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh yeah, I know God, I didn't even think about that, yeah.
Speaker 1:So he had a laptop mounted to the dashboard and take down lights on his side mirror, while at a stoplight this is matthew. So he's in this fake, fake cop car at a stoplight. He motioned the car next to him hey, buddy, put your seat belt on, why? The other motorist asked are you a cop? Yeah, I am, he responded. So am I? The motorist replied I am undercover. Why don't you just pull over to the side there?
Speaker 2:matthew why?
Speaker 1:oh, oopsies. What are the odds, though I mean seriously. So then they searched his car and, and inside his car the cops found a handgun under the seat, a taser, handcuffs and t-shirts that said, t-shirts that he had printed that said Deputy on them.
Speaker 2:Oh, matthew, oh bless, got my deputy shirt all washed up for duty.
Speaker 1:He was just a little kid. There was also a badge that he kept from the volunteer explorer program it's like.
Speaker 1:It's like when you, you know your local, uh, fireman from your local fire department comes to talk to your elementary school and you get like a junior fire fighter. Yes sticker, oh my god, uh. So he had the badge that he kept from his volunteer explorer program when he was 12. And a non-functioning police radio that had been marked as stolen. Oh my gosh, ooh, wah, wah, wah.
Speaker 1:Matthew was kept in jail until his trial, which started in late August 2012. His defense team blamed the hospital administrators for letting it happen. The prosecution said that what happened was no mistake. Matthew's actions were bold and calculated and, as a result, as many as 450 patients were exposed to the risk of being cared for by a teenage fake pa. So if he was, if he wasn't intentional about it, why go to the ER at night when he knew the admin staff weren't there? Why wear scrubs, the lab coat, why drape a stethoscope across your neck as if you know what to do with it? It was obviously not a mistake. So, on August 30th 2012, matthew was convicted of three counts of impersonation and two counts of practicing medicine without a mistake. So, on August 30th 2012, matthew was convicted of three counts of impersonation and two counts of practicing medicine without a license. One of the charges was dropped because there wasn't enough evidence to prove that he had removed an IV from a patient. Oh my God, matthew reportedly wept. Oh, you're a baby.
Speaker 4:Because you did your baby.
Speaker 1:It's because he's a baby. Matthew reportedly wept as the jury read the verdict. He was facing up to 25 years in prison, but on November 14th 2012, he was only sentenced to one year of jail time, with a year of house arrest, eight years of probation and some much needed mental health counseling. Eight years of probation and some much needed mental health counseling. It seems that the judge in the case cut Matthew some slack because he was quote too young to appreciate the consequences of the offense. End quote.
Speaker 1:Three years later, matthew told the news program 2020 that he still regrets that time in his life. Quote if I could go back and change that day that I went back and asked for that ID, of course I would change that. I cannot get a house on my own. I cannot go to school, like I cannot go to college or university. I am a convicted felon for the rest of my life. I am 21 years old now. I am an adult. I know where my mind is.
Speaker 1:At End quote, he said Quote nothing like that will ever happen again. I can promise that. End quote. He said Quote nothing like that will ever happen again. I can promise that. End quote. To quote to go back to the Office, to quote Dwight Schrute from the indisputably fantastic series the Office, which I just said Quote if onlys and justs were candies and nuts, then every day would be ontodonk fest. That's an Easter egg for office fans. Anyway, on January 13th 2015, a pregnant patient at St Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, florida, felt like something was off about the doctor in her exam room. He looked the part with his stethoscope face mask lab coat, but he appeared to be a child, she said she's like um, I'm about to have a child, are you a child?
Speaker 1:dude, get this child out of here. I'm about to have one. I need someone who knows what they're doing. So the patient asked other hospital staff about him and hospital staff didn't know who he was either, but they had seen him wandering around the building for a month, roaming the halls and entering patients' rooms. Finally, an OBGYN named Dr Sebastian Kent said the boy had left him a note claiming to be an anesthesiologist on his desk and asked to job shadow Dr Kent.
Speaker 1:Dr Kent told Fox 13 News that he thought, geez, that must be getting really old, because these young doctors look younger every year and honestly, same. I mean I feel that way about our new graduates from audiology programs every year. Dr Kent goes on to say he tried to ingratiate himself with me so I would take him around, and after a while it started to not make sense to me. End quote. Eventually Dr Kent shared his suspicions with security, and security frog marched the boy off the premise off the premises and called the police. Police interviewed the kid and searched his car and they found an additional lab coat hanging in the backseat with an inscription that read Dr Malachi a love Robinson. So the so-called Malachi told police he was 17 years old that he had been a doctor for years. Malachi said his mother would vouch for him and she was en route to the scene.
Speaker 4:I was like, oh yeah, from jail.
Speaker 2:You can only catch her during visiting hours.
Speaker 1:Mama oh, I pretended to be a doctor, can you bail me out of this one again? And she said no, no, no, no. She said her son had a mental illness and refused to take his medication. Malachi was like oh, that's irrelevant. And refused to take his medication. Malachi was like oh, that's irrelevant. So this was all a simple misunderstanding that was blown out of proportion. According to him, he said he hadn't treated any patients. He was simply shadowing physicians to learn as much as he could. St Mary's Medical Center agreed with Malachi I mean, they had to CYA everyone. They released a statement that read quote the individual I can't even stomach naming him, they're like this dude never had contact with any hospital patients and did not gain access to patient care areas of the hospital at any time. The hospital immediately notified local authorities, who took the individual into custody. We are cooperating with their ongoing investigation.
Speaker 2:End quote I mean, he's been around here for one month, but after someone said something finally, then yeah, we did yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, he roamed around, but he didn't actually provide patient care. How okay, all right. So of course, you know they had to boost up their story, so they declined to press charges and the police determined that no crime had been committed as a result. So neither malachi love robinson's name or age was released to the public, just like it had not been released when he pulled a similar stint the year before.
Speaker 1:In january 2014, 16 16 yearold Malachi entered an education services center flaunting a PhD degree and seeking employment as a medical instructor. I'm sorry, you guys definitely need to take a peek at this dude. I don't know how anyone could look at baby face and think this 16-year-old who probably at the time at 21, he looks like a baby At 16, he must have looked 5. I don't know, I don't know how anyone he must be a charmer for sure. But anyway, he tried to do the same thing at multiple high schools in the area before someone finally called the cops. The report stated that several high schools informed the school police that the student had visited each school and attempted to integrate himself with the medical academy as an instructor or teacher. The report says when school officials questioned him, he replied that he really wasn't a medical doctor, but they believed he was a compulsive liar and may have a medical condition. You think, yeah, couldn't have said it better myself, but Malachi Love Robinson always wanted to be a doctor. He wasn't about to let a few rules and regulations or education stand in his way, and about eight months after being turfed out of St Mary's, it became clear to him that he needed to make a move.
Speaker 1:So the Florida Department of Health received a package from an anonymous source that included a letter and other documents regarding Malachi Love Robinson. The letter stated that the now 18-year-old had been impersonating a medical doctor, a naturopathic doctor and a psychologist. The letter was dated September 16, 2015, and it began by stating this information should be considered high priority, and it continued to describe how Malachi claimed to have acquired three degrees by the age of 18. The letter writer wrote please intervene and stated that Malachi is a very skilled con man, and the writer signed the letter from a concerned citizen.
Speaker 1:The package also contained printouts of websites like healthgradescom, a doctor review platform, on which malachi hada profile with him with his title listed as md. It stated that he was 25 years old and had a five star rating. On the same page there was a self-written bio section. It read hello, I am dr malachi love robinson. I am a well-rounded professional professional was misspelled, by the way, which we all know how I feel about that that treats and cares for patients using a system practice that bases treatment on physiological, psychological, mechanical methods like air, water, light, heat, earth, phototherapy, food, aromatherapy, psychotherapy, electrotherapy, physiotherapy, minor and or facial surgery, surgery, the chemical therapy, naturopathic corrections and manipulation, and natural methods and modalities, together with natural medicines and natural processed food and herbs and dying I'm dying.
Speaker 2:Anything you want, I got it on over.
Speaker 1:I can't even read that without you know, taking 10 breaths. By the way, it didn't list any schools under his name. Hmm, Shocker.
Speaker 2:And I think at all those schools he would have learned to break down a sentence.
Speaker 1:I know Run on and on.
Speaker 2:And and, and, and, and and.
Speaker 1:Listen, you've taken that Oxford comma to the next degree. So his bio, like we said, didn't read any schools, because he said well, they were to be found in the Florida Department of Health License Verification Database. And the letter went on to say he's truly a danger to the general public. A danger to the general public. Meanwhile, malachi had been laid off shocker from his most recent role as program director at a rehab facility. Around the same time the letter was sent, he'd been promoted in under three months.
Speaker 1:I mean, honestly, this guy must be a super charm, super charmer. He routinely met with patients at New Directions Treatment Center, which was an intensive outpatient program for drug and alcohol addiction. When state health investigators followed up on the letter and questioned Malachi about his duties at New Directions, he told them that he would counsel the patients, listen to them, pray with them and advise the medical doctors and staff that if the patient's medication needed adjustments, what they should do to remedy that. So he's not even hiding the fact that he's definitely outside his scope. He shouldn't be counseling people in this sort of dangerous and tenuous condition that need actual professional help.
Speaker 1:But he's also talking about their meds. I mean, love Robinson admitted that he never attempted medical school and is not a licensed medical doctor. The report stated Love Robinson said he considers himself a medical doctor and has people refer to him as a medical doctor. His PhD, he told investigators, came from Universal Life Church, an online Christian school. Yeah, great. Universal Life Church Seminary is one of the websites where people anywhere can get ordained instantly, and they offer other products like doctorates and divinity, which is an honorary degree for those who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to ministry and theology. All for the low, low price of $29.95. No curriculum, no exams, just pay the money. Ulife will send you an official looking diploma in which your name is printed along with the prefixes and suffixes of your choice. At the time, the website stated you will be legally entitled to use the title doctor in front of your name and DD after your name. And that is what 18 year old male Malachi I don't know why I had to say male Malachi Love Robinson did, and that's why New Directions hired him. They thought he had a PhD. Additionally, he lied about his age and provided an additional diploma from Arizona State University that claimed he held a doctorate in psychology A credential he would later admit was fraudulent no-transcript.
Speaker 1:Dr Sassetti was the owner of New Directions. She was the person who hired Love Robinson for $70,000 annual salary. When he came to us, he said he was 28 and that he was sick for 10 years in France and that when he came to the United States, they made a mistake and put his date of arrival on the birth certificate instead of his date of birth. I mean, we laugh now because hindsight's you know, 2020, but it's outlandish. I mean, the guy has brass cojones.
Speaker 1:The state ordered Malachi to cease and desist from practicing medicine and issued a citation of $1,253 for the three months that he worked at the rehab facility. The three months that he worked at the rehab facility, okay, back to 2016. Dr Love got cocky In January 2016,. Facebook friends of Malachi were sent an invitation to the grand opening of New Birth, new Life Alternative Medicine and Urgent Care Clinic. The new clinic offered family planning and holistic healing. Guess what? It was owned by Dr Malachi Love Robinson. The event page listed the address and location of the clinic, including his name, and used the designations MD, phd, psyd, hhpc and AM-C. I'm not sure what the last two letters mean but dang, that's some alphabet soup yeah letter chaser.
Speaker 1:To make matters worse, dr Malachi Love Robinson actually had a legitimate NPI number for which, if AlleyCats don't know, I know it's a national provider identifier. I don't know it's the number a provider needs in order to accept government payments from like Medicaid and Medicare. How he got it, no one knows what the heck I mean. That's scary to me that he could do that. A local news station, abc affiliate, wpbf, was tipped off about the grand opening and showed up unannounced with a camera. The anchor, terry parker, said that malachi took off his lab coat and stethoscope when he saw the news crew approaching, and this is where I'm going to try to give us a little sound bite so that you can hear for yourselves how that interview went.
Speaker 3:George Malachi loved Robinson, the teen arched out of his Florida clinic in handcuffs. Malachi, they say you've been practicing medicine without a license, sitting down with ABC News overnight, released from jail early Wednesday morning on a $21,000 bail after being busted in a sting operation in West Palm Beach, caught allegedly giving a medical exam to an undercover officer. Are you a doctor of anything? Anything at all.
Speaker 4:I do currently hold a PhD in what I don't feel comfortable disclosing, because that is not the issue here.
Speaker 3:The issue that I face now is accusations, the 18-year-old indeed facing serious accusations from police Seven including grand theft and allegedly practicing medicine without a license. And last month he proudly showed off his medical center to our ABC affiliate, wpbf. This is the new birth and life medical center, but peel back the tape and the sign on the door answers his name and these two crucial letters MD.
Speaker 4:That sign on the door was actually due to be changed. There are many types of degrees out there that hold the title as doctor, whether they are a physicist or an engineer. Just because someone has the title doctor in front of their name does not necessarily imply MD. Have you had training? I have.
Speaker 3:I have shadowed many doctors, you're saying your training comprises shadowing other doctors real doctors, that's your training in medicine.
Speaker 4:Your training comprises of a lot of things, but you weren't in med school, exactly so I'm not portraying as an MD.
Speaker 3:I've never said that I've gone to school to be MD, but the team who goes by Dr Love does advertise an array of treatments on his medical center website, including phototherapy, food and air therapy and natural medicine.
Speaker 4:I have been studying this particular field for a while. May not have been eight years, nine years, ten years, but it has been long enough to, I would say, justify what.
Speaker 3:I do, Including apparently treating the elderly In a criminal complaint. An 86-year-old woman said he recently treated her for severe stomach pain, paying him nearly $3,500. What services did you provide in exchange for that money? I?
Speaker 4:can tell you this Accusations are merely accusations and services. You have to define that. Whether she paid for me to just show up.
Speaker 3:That's up to her. You're not denying the fact that she paid you $3,500 or so, correct? No, I am denying that. Are you a fraud? Because it seems like everything you're saying to me is either evasive or an outright lie.
Speaker 4:I don't appreciate your tone. I don't appreciate the way you're portraying this interview to actually be.
Speaker 3:And then a moment we didn't expect. Are you in big trouble? I mean, it seems like you've spoken to a lawyer who's prepared you for to talk not only to the media but the police, as well, I don't know where you're receiving this information from, but it is inaccurate.
Speaker 4:I'm sorry, I'm going to have to cut this interview short.
Speaker 3:I'm going to have to cut this interview short and in fact he did, walking out the door. Now we have a standing offer to Malachi to finish that interview. The teen has not yet been arraigned but insisted throughout the interview he has done nothing wrong. He has also said that when all this clears up, he intends to open another clinic. Amy George, matt, we always appreciate your time, yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh, my God Shoot.
Speaker 1:Did that come through? Okay, could you hear it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I could hear it.
Speaker 1:Okay, I did a separate recording of it, so I can insert that if this doesn't work. But okay, let me get back to my script here. Okay, so it's just. Wow, wait, I just had to share that okay.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, that can be defined differently by different people. I'm like what?
Speaker 1:Okay, well, spoiler alert, he was sentenced to over three years in prison, but then, in 2022, he was arrested again for fraud and identity theft after applying for loans during the pandemic the pandemic. So he's still under legal proceedings and is awaiting further developments, because dr love can't just stop loving. Doctor. In the truth, you see, what I did, there. Yeah, I see what you did there that's a wrap, oh my gosh, what, what?
Speaker 2:Let's do this. Malachi, matthew, I don't even remember what your name is now, wasn't?
Speaker 1:it Matthew, matthew Scheidt, yeah.
Speaker 2:Matthew Scheidt. Matthew Scheidt, little frickin' Scheidt.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you little Scheidt.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, I have no words, he's wild. Yeah, he's wild, he's wilding out. I have no words, he's wild, he's wild, he's wilding out. Look out Florida, if he's still in Florida. I love the police car situation too, where he's like, yeah, I'm a cop, put your seatbelt on. And he's like, yeah, buddy, I am a cop.
Speaker 1:I was like why is the cop not?
Speaker 2:wearing his seatbelt. But okay, I guess, I guess, yeah, good point. Because I was thinking like, well, this is just trying to have people be safe. And then I was like, wait a second, now that you say that, yeah, why wasn't the police officer wearing his damn seatbelt? Why? Oh, because you can speed, but I can't.
Speaker 1:You don't have to wear your seatbelt, but I'll have to if he wasn't such a chucklehead, I would have, you know, been a little upset about that, but like this, guy deserved more than what came to him he was given many chances and he's just yeah, I'm also like wow, just wants that white coat without doing the work.
Speaker 2:Things are really willy-nilly in 2011a because any hospital I've ever worked at, it is hard as fuck to get a badge when you are an employee there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, I mean I've been cut off of elevators because, like you, don't get to go to the or. But I have a case. Well, I don't know, I'm gonna have to go get a new photograph. It's been five hot years.
Speaker 2:You may have a few more crow's feet that we don't know and like, speaking of crow's feet, I'm like I have had patients so many times be like are you old enough to be my doctor? Are you old enough to do this? And it's like hello. When I didn't have botox on board, girlfriends got some like wrinkles and I'm like this guy looks like a literal baby.
Speaker 3:Yeah they were asking me. I got gray hair and wrinkles.
Speaker 2:They're like are you old enough?
Speaker 1:and then his baby face is opening his own clinic and people are like I'll go here I mean honestly, he looks like he just spat out his pacifier in order to make these statements. I mean, it's so such a baby face. So I can't wait for listeners to take a peek at his little mugshot. But yeah, so hopefully that provided a little lightheartedness and I'm sorry we went over probably about 20 minutes. Hopefully it was worth it.
Speaker 2:It was worth it. That was good, thank you for sharing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so what can our listeners expect to hear next week, amanda?
Speaker 2:excuse me, oh my god, it's almost eight o'clock. It's almost eight o'clock it's your bedtime I did not know that.
Speaker 2:Oh my god, okay, well, I I'm. I'm planning to do the case that I was planning to do last week still, yay, so we'll bring you that. But life has been life in this week and I honestly have not gotten any further on my books. So it will either be that case or it'll be a surprise to all of us, something I haven't chosen yet. So stay tuned. Sometimes those are the best. I can't wait. Yeah, so yeah, until then, don't miss a beat.
Speaker 2:Subscribe or follow Doctoring the Truth wherever you enjoy your podcasts, for stories that shock, intrigue and educate. Trust, after all, is a delicate thing. You can text us directly on our website at doctoringthetruth, at buzzsproutcom, email us your story ideas, medical mishaps and I don't know anything else. You want doctoringthetruth at gmail and be sure to follow us on Instagram at doctor in the truth podcast, and facebook at doctor in the truth. We are on tiktok, at doctor in the truth and ed odd pod. Don't forget to download, rate and review so we can be sure to bring you more content next week. And still and still until. Stay safe. I can't read anymore. I film at 8 o'clock. Stay safe and stay suspicious.
Speaker 1:Good night. I'm not even counting down anymore, I'm just going to stop by the time I find my mouse.
