Dr. Robert Morris Levy, former Veterans Affairs pathologist, charged with manslaughter – the wife of a former army sergeant takes the floor

Fayetteville, Arkansas – The indictment of a former doctor at a VA hospital in Arkansas sends shockwaves into the country's largest health care system. Dr. Robert Morris Levy, 53, is accused of manslaughter deaths of three patients – and it could be responsible for the deaths of at least a dozen others.

Kathy McCoy's husband, Michael, died at the end of last year. He was a proud 10 year old grandfather and a retired army sergeant. In 2014, he went to an Arkansas VA complaining of a leg pain.

"He was in constant pain, he got where he could not walk in the end … he was crawling a lot," McCoy told CBS News. "They continued to say that it was arthritis."

She said that it was a blood clot in the leg.

McCoy's case is one of thousands of cases in the study after Robert Levy, a VA pathologist, was charged with manslaughter in the death of at least three elders. combatants by misdiagnosis or falsification of their diagnoses.

Kathy McCoy

CBS News

"We've looked at the most serious cases and the highest-risk cases – these are the three cases we're sure we can bring to justice and get a conviction," said Duane Kees, US Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas. . I said.

Levy has been chief pathologist at Ozarks Veterans Medical Center for more than 10 years, but he was fired last year after being charged with working under the influence of intoxication.

The federal indictment accuses him of practicing alcohol by drinking a potent form of alcohol called 2-methyl-2-butanol – or 2M2B – a form of alcohol. alcohol that can not be detected in an alcohol or drug test.

Levy can be seen in police camera footage reported at a 2018 DUI stop. It has been published by a law firm representing some of its alleged victims.

Robert Levy

Washington County Sheriff's Department

An 18-month VA survey of more than 30,000 cases under Levy's supervision revealed that 3,029 people had revealed erroneous errors or diagnoses, and concluded that they could have resulted in at least 15 deaths, some of which were due. to cancer.

McCoy explained that her husband had the impression of trusting a system that eventually dropped him.

"I think that over there, in the end, he knew that they had missed it," she said.

McCoy is buried here at Fort Smith National Cemetery. But his family wonders if a proper diagnosis could have saved his life. In a statement, Levy declared that he was innocent and that he would defend himself vigorously.

When he is convicted of all counts, Levy incurs a sentence of up to 524 years in prison and a fine of $ 7.75 million, Kees said.