Doctor’s suicide note raises vaccine concerns

An Illinois pediatrician’s mysterious suicide note has raised troubling questions about the immunization records of children in the Chicago-area community he served for years.

The doctor, Van Koinis, had been missing since August when he was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Sept. 10 in a forest preserve in Palos Township, authorities said.

Investigators said they had found an “unusual” and “dark” suicide note at the scene in which Koinis expressed “horrible regrets” regarding immunizations over the past 10 years, prompting an investigation into which of his patients received vaccinations and which did not, the Cook County sheriff, Thomas Dart, said Friday.

“In the course of his note, he just made it sound like this was haunting him for a long time,” Dart said.

A statement from the Cook County sheriff’s office said investigators had obtained information that suggested that in some cases,

Koinis “did not provide vaccinations to children at their parents’ request.”

“Was he just doing this pursuant to patients’ requests and then lying about the records, where these kids get into schools where you’re required to have immunizations?” Dart asked. “Or was it something where he went beyond that, where people who thought they were immunized were not getting it?”

In their investigation, authorities had spoken with two people who had worked for Koinis but were unable to gain clarity on the matter. After speaking with some patients, investigators learned that Koinis, who had been licensed to practice medicine in the state since 1991, was a proponent of homeopathic medicine, Dart said.

“He was pretty well known for that,” the sheriff said. “It wasn’t a secret.”

Koinis had about 2,500 patients at the time of his death, but it was unclear how many patients he had treated over the past decade or why the doctor had a number of patients who did not live in the general area, Dart said.

Since revealing their concerns about the suicide note, authorities have received phone calls from people expressing worry or detailing “strange experiences” at the doctor’s office in regards to vaccinations, Dart said.

In its statement, the sheriff’s office encouraged former patients to consult with their current physicians and “inquire about methods to test for prior vaccinations.” At least one local school district had publicly reiterated concerns from the sheriff’s office.