Fayetteville doctor sentenced to 20 years in federal prison
David Clay Fowlkes, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas and Michael Missal, Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs, announced that
Robert Morris Levy 54, of Fayetteville was sentenced Friday to 240 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $497,745.70 in restitution for one count each of mail fraud and involuntary manslaughter.
According to the plea agreement, Levy held a medical license issued by the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure issued in 1997. In 2005, the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks hired Levy to serve as the chief of Pathology and Laboratory Medical Services, a position he held until his termination in 2018.
In 2015, Levy was interviewed by an administrative fact-finding panel regarding reports that Levy was under the influence of alcohol while on duty. Levy denied the allegations. In 2016, Levy appeared to be intoxicated while on duty, and a subsequent drug and alcohol test revealed Levy’s blood alcohol content was .396.0 mg/ dL. As a result, the Fayetteville VA summarily suspended Levy’s privileges to practice medicine and issued Levy a written notice of removal and revocation of clinical privileges. Levy acknowledged that the pending proposed removal and revocation of clinical privileges was “due to unprofessional conduct related to high blood alcohol content while on duty” and in July 2016, Levy voluntarily entered a three-month in-patient treatment program, which he completed in October 2016.
Toward the end of the treatment program, Levy executed a contract with the Mississippi Physician Health Program and the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure in anticipation of returning to practice medicine at the Fayetteville VA. In the contract, Levy agreed to maintain sobriety to ensure his ability to practice medicine with reasonable skill and safety to patients. Levy returned to work at the Fayetteville VA in October 2016.
On twelve occasions beginning in June 2017 and continuing through 2018, while Levy was contractually obligated to submit to random drug and alcohol screens, Levy purchased for personal consumption a chemical substance that enables a person to achieve a state of intoxication but is not detectable in routine drug and alcohol testing methodology. On July 2, 2017, in furtherance of the scheme to defraud, Levy caused a package containing 2M2B to be shipped in interstate commerce from a chemical supply company in Virginia to Levy’s residence in Fayetteville. The package containing 2M2B was sent from Virginia and delivered to Levy’s home in the Western District of Arkansas by United Parcel Service, a commercial interstate carrier.
On February 4, 2014, Levy conducted a cursory and rudimentary workup of a biopsy of a tumor in the lymph node of an Air Force veteran and rendered a diagnosis of diffuse large B cell lymphoma. The government’s evidence would show this diagnosis was incorrect and that Levy’s workup prior to finalizing the incorrect diagnosis was cursory and rudimentary. The Government’s evidence also showed that Levy made a patently false entry in the veteran’s medical record by stating that another pathologist agreed with Levy’s diagnosis, when in truth and fact, Levy well knew when he made the false entry in the veteran’s medical record that no other pathologist agreed with Levy’s diagnosis. The evidence also revealed that prior to Levy entering the false diagnosis, another pathologist had written to Levy, urging Levy to perform more diagnostic tests in the case due to the concern that Levy’s diagnosis of large B cell lymphoma was wrong. The veteran died at the VHSO on July 26, 2014, of small cell carcinoma for which the veteran received no treatment to prolong his life. The veteran was not treated for small cell carcinoma due to Levy’s grossly and criminally negligent conduct that demonstrated a wanton and reckless disregard for the veteran’s life, according to a news release.
A federal grand jury indicted Levy in August 2019, and he entered a guilty plea in June 2020.
The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation. Criminal Chief Kyra Jenner and Assistant United States Attorney Bryan Achorn prosecuted the case for the United States.