![\"Candy](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Candy-man-300x200.png\")
<\/a><\/center><\/p>\nDavid sends us a link to the Daily Caller<\/a> which reported the news last week that Dr. David Houlihan, the Tomah, Wisconsin VA hospital\u2019s chief of staff may get his job back after losing his state medical license for over prescribing dangerous drugs to veterans, so much so that the hospital was known as “Candy Land” and the good doctor himself as known as the “Candy Man”. The State Medical Board yanked his credentials two years ago, but a judge restored those creds ahead of an investigation, according to local news<\/a>;<\/p>\n Administrative Law Judge Jennifer Nashold overturned the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board\u2019s emergency suspension, saying in a ruling made Friday and released Monday that the evidence against Houlihan didn\u2019t justify the immediate sanction while the medical board continues its investigation into whether he violated state law.<\/p>\n […]<\/p>\n The center reported on Jason Simcakoski, a 35-year-old Marine Corps veteran who died from a drug overdose while at the hospital in 2014.<\/p>\n The medical board, in issuing its emergency suspension March 16, said Houlihan did not act as \u201ca minimally competent\u201d doctor when he prescribed an unnamed patient Suboxone, commonly used to treat opioid dependence, for chronic pain and anxiety, on top of nine drugs he was already taking.<\/p>\n The patient matched Simcakoski\u2019s circumstances.<\/p>\n The board also said Houlihan acted outside the scope of his psychiatry practice when he treated patients with chronic pain, often prescribing opioids in \u201cdosages greatly exceeding the recommended daily amount\u201d for up to 12 years, creating \u201can unacceptable risk\u201d of harm to patients and the public.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n He’s been on paid leave since 2014, and in the interim started his own practice.<\/p>\n While the VA goes through the motions of investigating the doctor and his methods, acting Director Victoria Brahm of the hospital has forbade the media from the premises<\/a>;<\/p>\n \u201cThe media will not be allowed on the campus while the DAB is meeting as we do not want to disrupt the environment for our residents, Veterans coming in for healthcare services or staff,\u201d read the memo, signed by acting Director Victoria Brahm. \u201cTherefore if you see members of the media on campus not being escorted by Matthew Gowan, Tomah VAMC public affairs officer, please contact the VA Police Department.\u201d<\/p>\n As the weeklong hearing of the Disciplinary Appeals Board \u2014 a grievance process outlined in federal code \u2014 got underway, Brahm softened her tone.<\/p>\n \u201cThe hearing is already generating much attention and for the reasons I\u2019ve mentioned above, it has been decided that the media will not be authorized access to the hearing,\u201d the new message stated. \u201cIf you see unescorted members of the media on campus please contact Matthew Gowan \u2026 so that he can assist them.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So, I’m convinced that the process will be fair, impartial and in the interests of veterans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"