Get Task & Purpose in your inbox
MOST READ
Veteran sues University of Toledo for allegedly disclosing PTSD and portraying him as a safety threat
A University of Toledo student has sued the university and two married employees who he says disclosed his post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis acquired in combat and incorrectly portrayed him as a safety threat to others.
Dallon Higgs, identified in court records as a former U.S. Army paratrooper, enrolled in the university's physician assistant program in 2017, shortly before the program lost its accreditation.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, Mr. Higgs accused the university, his counselor, and the head of the physician assistant program of punishing him for his criticism of the program and disclosing his personal health information.
"Specifically, Defendants engaged in a pattern [of] intentional, reckless, and or/negligent conduct whereby they made false statements regarding Plaintiff's mental health and falsely presented Plaintiff as a threat to others," the lawsuit states.
In February, 2018, Mr. Higgs sought counseling from psychologist Mychail Scheramic, including for PTSD-related services.
Mr. Scheramic is married to Dr. Linda Speer, department chair of the PA program.
In a meeting led by Dr. Speer the following month, PA students and program leaders discussed the accreditation loss. Mr. Higgs, according to the lawsuit, directed pointed questions at Dr. Speer, who led the meeting.
After that encounter, the suit alleges, Mr. Scheramic disclosed information from Mr. Higgs' session to his wife, and they and the university conspired to remove Mr. Higgs from the program.
Among the tactics to portray Mr. Higgs as a threat was the presence of law enforcement and security personnel while Mr. Higgs sat for program exams, the lawsuit states.
"Defendants' conduct was so extreme and outrageous as to go beyond all bounds of decency and was such that it can be considered as utterly intolerable in a civilized society," the suit reads.
The university concluded that Mr. Higgs' federal education privacy rights were violated, according to the lawsuit and a UT document provided to The Blade by Mr. Higgs' attorney Zachary Murry.
The accrediting agency Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant first placed UT's program on probation in June, 2017. The agency withdrew its accreditation in October, 2017, citing insufficient faculty, lack of administrative oversight, and insufficient curriculum.
The university regained its accreditation in January, 2018, though the program will remain on probation for two years.
The lawsuit seeks $275,000 in damages.
University spokesman Meghan Cunningham said UT officials are aware of the lawsuit but declined further comment citing pending litigation. Check back for updates.
———
©2019 The Blade (Toledo, Ohio)
Visit The Blade (Toledo, Ohio) at www.toledoblade.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A Vietnam vet found covered in ant bites is forcing the Atlanta VA to finally reckon with years of dangerous practices
Dawn Brys got an early taste of the crisis unfolding at the largest Veterans Affairs hospital in the Southeast.
The Air Force vet said she went to the Atlanta VA Medical Center in Decatur last year for surgery on a broken foot. But the doctor called it off because the surgical instruments hadn't been properly sterilized.
"The tools had condensation on them," recalled Brys, a 50-year-old Marietta resident. The doctor rescheduled it for the next day.
Now the 400-plus-bed hospital on Clairmont Road that serves about 120,000 military veterans is in a state of emergency. It suspended routine surgeries in late September after a string of incidents that exposed mismanagement and dangerous practices. It hopes to resume normal operations by early November as it struggles to retrain staff and hire new nurses.
The partial shutdown came about two weeks after Joel Marrable, a cancer patient in the same VA complex, was found covered with more than 100 ant bites by his daughter. Also in September, the hospital's canteen was temporarily closed for a pest investigation.
The mounting problems triggered a leadership shakeup Sept. 17, when regional director Leslie Wiggins was put on administrative leave. Dr. Arjay K. Dhawan, the regional medical director, was moved to administrative duties pending an investigation. Seven staff members were reassigned to non-patient care.
The only question for some military veterans and staff is why the VA waited so long. They say problems existed for years under Wiggins' leadership, but little was done.
Former VA Secretary: 'Now is the time' to research medical marijuana
The former Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs thinks that the VA needs to start researching medical marijuana. Not in a bit. Not soon. Right goddamn now.
White House acknowledges Trump's withholding of Ukraine military aid came with strings attached
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's withholding of $391 million in military aid to Ukraine was linked to his request that the Ukrainians look into a claim — debunked as a conspiracy theory — about the 2016 U.S. election, a senior presidential aide said on Thursday, the first time the White House acknowledged such a connection.
Trump and administration officials had denied for weeks that they had demanded a "quid pro quo" - a Latin phrase meaning a favor for a favor - for delivering the U.S. aid, a key part of a controversy that has triggered an impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives against the Republican president.
But Mick Mulvaney, acting White House chief of staff, acknowledged in a briefing with reporters that the U.S. aid — already approved by Congress — was held up partly over Trump's concerns about a Democratic National Committee (DNC) computer server alleged to be in Ukraine.
"I have news for everybody: Get over it. There is going to be political influence in foreign policy," Mulvaney said.
Shells are still falling in Syria despite a five-day ceasefire agreement with Turkey
CEYLANPINAR, Turkey (Reuters) - Shelling could be heard at the Syrian-Turkish border on Friday morning despite a five-day ceasefire agreed between Turkey and the United States, and Washington said the deal covered only a small part of the territory Ankara aims to seize.
Reuters journalists at the border heard machine-gun fire and shelling and saw smoke rising from the Syrian border battlefield city of Ras al Ain, although the sounds of fighting had subsided by mid-morning.
The truce, announced on Thursday by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence after talks in Ankara with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, sets out a five-day pause to let the Kurdish-led SDF militia withdraw from an area controlled by Turkish forces.
The SDF said air and artillery attacks continued to target its positions and civilian targets in Ral al Ain.
"Turkey is violating the ceasefire agreement by continuing to attack the town since last night," SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali tweeted.
The Kurdish-led administration in the area said Turkish truce violations in Ras al Ain had caused casualties, without giving details.
Turkey allegedly used chemical weapons on the Kurdish civilians Trump left vulnerable in Syria
The United Nations is investigating the possible use of chemical weapons in the conflict in northeastern Syria, according to The Guardian's Dan Sabbagh. The Kurdish Red Crescent has raised concerns about Turkish forces and Turkish-supported opposition forces using chemical weapons.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) told The Guardian that it was "aware of the situation and is collecting information with regard to possible use of chemical weapons," but cautioned that it has "not yet determined the credibility of these allegations."
The allegations were first reported by Lara Seligman in Foreign Policy.