Video: Dr Ewart Brown On Lahey Lawsuit
As far as he knows the Lahey lawsuit has not been dropped, and the allegations are “frivolous,” former Premier Dr Ewart Brown said, adding that if they “had weight the Department of Justice would have agreed to take the case.”
Dr Brown recently sat down with Bernews for a 80-minute live interview discussing a wide range of topics, with the Lahey lawsuit one of the matters discussed.
In February 2017, the Bermuda Government filed a lawsuit in the federal court of Massachusetts alleging that Lahey conspired with Dr Brown, with payments to Dr Brown “disguised as consulting fees,” in return for which Dr Brown “ensured that Lahey received preferential treatment when bidding on healthcare contracts issued by the Bermudian Government.”
Dr Brown is not a defendant in this lawsuit, however is cited as a “non-party co-conspirator”, and is described as a “British Overseas Territories citizen” who is the “owner of Bermuda Healthcare Services [BHCS], a medical clinic which he has owned and operated since at least 1993, and the Brown-Darrell Clinic a medical clinic which he has owned and operated since 2007.”
Scans were also cited in the lawsuit, which stated that between 2004 and 2012, CT scanning in Bermuda more than doubled, from 75.0 CT scans per 1000 to 171.4 scans per 1000 in 2012, stating that “Bermudians soon ranked among the most scanned patients in the world”, with the lawsuit alleging that “excessive, medically unnecessary” MRI and CT scans were performed.
Dr Brown has already denied the allegations, calling them a “litany of lies,” while Trevor Moniz, who was Attorney-General at that time, said “the Government believes it has substantial claims against Lahey”.
Since the lawsuit was filed, Bermuda has changed governing parties, with the PLP defeating the OBA in last summer’s General Election, and Kathy Lynn Simmons has replaced Trevor Moniz as the Attorney-General.
“I think a mistake was made.” Dr. Brown told Bernews. “I think that to consider a 20-year-old, carefully drafted agreement, a contract, with the Lahey Clinic, to call it a bribe is both an insult and a mistake. I’m hoping, because I’m a Bermudian, I’m hoping that Bermuda will be able to get out of this essentially unscathed.
“It was not a secret in Bermuda that I had a relationship with the Lahey Clinic. I mean, it was on the sign out at the street. Everyone in Bermuda who wanted to know knew that I had a connection with the Lahey Clinic.”
Dr. Brown said, “I did have a relationship with Lahey. One of my jobs as a consultant was to promote Lahey. But there were no Government contracts. He refers to Government contracts and nobody in Bermuda can find a Government contract for health care. There is none. So part of that is like saying that a couple that have been married for 20 years conspired to stay together.”
“These allegations are frivolous,” he said. “They use the existence of a real relationship to describe something devilish and criminal. I don’t know why they think that they can get away with it, but I don’t think that they will in the long run, because my relationship with the Lahey Clinic was very clear, in writing, upstanding, and everybody in the medical community knew about it. There was nothing secretive.”
“All ridiculous. If any of those things had weight, the Department of Justice would have agreed to take the case,” he added.
When asked if he knows what is happening with the matter, Dr. Brown said he thinks they are waiting for a hearing date sometime in the near future.
Asked if the case is still ongoing or has it been dropped, Dr. Brown replied, “As far as I know, it hasn’t been dropped. I’m hoping that eventually it will be, for Bermuda’s sake, because I would hate to see the Bermuda Government on the wrong end of a defamation suit.
“It’s a very large gamble. It is very, very unpopular in Massachusetts, because Lahey is popular in Massachusetts. I don’t know how Lahey will react. I know that they consider their reputation to be important. Time will tell.”
Asked if he would consider a writ for defamation, Dr. Brown said, “Me, personally? I don’t think so. I’d leave that up to the lawyers and seek advice from the lawyers.”
Asked about the lawsuit damaging his reputation, Dr. Brown said, “Yes. But you see, I live with the damaged reputation. As long as I’m in Bermuda, my reputation is under attack all the time. I don’t think I have enough time left on the planet to correct it.
“It’ll be corrected years after I leave. People will find out the truth. But more important, if the Bermuda Government drops the suit, that does not prevent or preclude Lahey from taking steps later.”
The text above represents only a small portion of the discussion on the Lahey lawsuit, so for full context please watch the video above. As with all reports pertaining to court matters comments are restricted however they remain open on the full interview; and we asked the Government for clarification yesterday on the status of the Lahey lawsuit, and will update with their response if able.
The video above was extracted from the full interview, in which Dr Brown discussed a wide range of topics including Zane DeSilva’s resignation from Cabinet, the Commission of Inquiry, the police investigation, gaming, the America’s Cup, politics in general, same sex marriage and more.
You can watch the full video here, and we will post additional excerpts/transcripts as able, the next one will be on the closure of the CT scan unit at Brown Darrell clinic.
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