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+--- Thread: News-Sun to Keller: RESIGN!!! (/showthread.php?tid=524)
News-Sun to Keller: RESIGN!!! - JazminH - 08-17-2009
OUR VIEW: Dr. Keller: Resign
Comments
August 17, 2009
Lake County Coroner Dr. Richard Keller went half way on Monday, resigning his paid position as medical director at the Waukegan methadone clinic, Green Dragonfly. He should go all the way and resign as coroner.
With the Lake County Stateâs Attorneyâs Office investigating Kellerâs involvement in the death of a 30-year-old Lindenhurst man who was prescribed methadone by the coroner, there is a cloud over the public office. It can only be dispersed with the resignation of Keller who already is a lame-duck. He announced, mainly due to the near-six-month stateâs attorneyâs probe, he would not seek re-election in 2012, when his current four-year term expires.
Keller was hired as medical director when the for-profit clinic opened its doors in October 2008, just a month before he was re-elected to a second term as coroner. For that alone, he has some explaining to do. Just what was the second-highest law enforcement officer in the county doing moonlighting prescribing drugs at a methadone clinic while being paid handsomely as coroner of Lake County?
That conflict, between being employed privately and publicly, became public with the Stateâs Attorneyâs Office investigation into the December 2008 death of Steven Vaughn. Vaughn, hooked on prescription painkillers, died after mixing methadone obtained from the Green Dragonfly with Xanax, an anxiety drug he was taking illegally.
One of the issues being examined by the Stateâs Attorneyâs Office is whether Keller, as coroner, followed proper protocol in reporting and investigating Vaughnâs death. Keller may not have violated standards, but it certainly was a conflict of interest.
This isnât the first time the Democratic coroner has played fast and loose with his official capacity. Last year, Keller testified under subpoena in a sexual assault case for the defense as an expert witness for a $150 fee. It was a trial where a 28-year-old man was accused of assaulting a 5-year-old child. Keller said that was the first time he had testified for the defense. He testified on technical matters concerning an emergency room physicianâs examination of the victim.
While Kellerâs resignation from the Green Dragonfly is effective next month, we believe it will be difficult, if not impossible, for him to divorce himself from the methadone clinic as long as the investigation into his actions are being examined. Which is why we believe he needs to leave the coronerâs office.
Re: News-Sun to Keller: RESIGN!!! - fedupinwaukegan - 08-17-2009
Keller resigns as medical director at Dragonfly
Comments
August 17, 2009
BY NICHOLAS P. ALAJAKIS <!-- e --><a href="mailto:nalajakis@scn1.com">nalajakis@scn1.com</a><!-- e -->
WAUKEGAN -- Lake County Corner Dr. Richard Keller announced his resignation today from his position as medical director of a local methadone clinic being investigated in the death of a Lindenhurst man.
Keller said his resignation from the Green Dragonfly, 1738 Washington St., Waukegan, will become official on Sept. 7, and it's something he's been planning for nearly a year. Keller was hired as medical director when the clinic opened its doors in October 2008.
» Click to enlarge image
Lake County Corner Dr. Richard Keller announced his resignation today from his position as medical director at Dragonfly, a methadone clinic.
(File)
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⢠OUR VIEW: Dr. Keller: Resign
⢠Coroner probed in death
"It really has been my intent all along to only stay for a year," Keller told the News-Sun on Monday. "The accreditation process begins at the end of this month, and then (I will) turn it over to another physician."
Keller said a Lake County State's Attorney's Office investigation into the December 2008 death of 30-year-old Steven Vaughn, of Lindenhurst, did not play a role in his resignation. Though the publicity behind the investigation did lead to making the resignation public, Keller added.
Vaughn died after mixing methadone obtained from the clinic with Xanax, an anxiety drug he was taking illegally, without a prescription.
State's Attorney Michael Waller said his office is investigating whether Keller and clinic staff gave Vaughn the methadone without first testing him for other drugs, such as Xanax, which can be deadly when mixed with methadone. They are also investigating whether Keller followed proper protocol in reporting and investigating Vaughn's death, as the coroner.
Vaughn's family has said that Vaughn lied to clinic staff and told them he was addicted to heroin, and was looking to receive dosages of methadone to help him fight the addiction.
While Keller is not at the clinic everyday, he does serve as the clinic's lone medical director, and must okay any prescriptions. State's Attorney's investigators have not yet spoken to Keller, Keller said Monday.
The Green Dragonfly was opened by Mary Olloway, in response to the drug overdose death of her nephew in 2004. Keller was selected by her as the clinic's medical director based on a past friendship. Numerous attempts to reach Olloway in recent days have been unsuccessful.
Re: News-Sun to Keller: RESIGN!!! - JazminH - 08-17-2009
fedup thats old news. He needs to leave the CORONERs office!!!