By: Dr. Bharani Padmanabhan – July, 2017
This week the ordinary decent folk of Massachusetts handed an honest doctor a massive victory over the cold sociopathic reptiles who pull the levers of this here state from behind various curtains.
How much of a victory? $22 million worth.
Dr. Lynn Hlatky, an accomplished cancer researcher, had made the fundamental mistake of believing that Massachusetts is a liberal progressive democratic cosmopolitan temple of learning with the rule of law. She therefore sued Harvard’s very own Dana Farber Cancer Institute for gender discrimination.
Gender discrimination of course is part and parcel of the Harvard experience as shown by Dr. Sagun Tuli at the Brigham and by Dr. Carol Warfield at the Beth Israel.
Just like those two other women, Dr. Hlatky prevailed in her gender discrimination lawsuit. That is when the reptiles that control this state swung into action as they always do. The Globe reported in its Spotlight report about Dr. Dennis Burke: “The older doctor grabbed Burke’s arm, as Burke recounts it, and spoke a few chilling words: You will never be forgiven.”
Dr. Hlatky was never forgiven either.
She moved her esteemed cancer lab to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital and out of Harvard but eventually the reptiles had their way. Her lab was defunded, stolen from her despite a contract in place and all of her staff laid off. Thirty years of knowledge and experience in the cause of curing patients with cancer was flung to the winds and Dr. Hlatky was made unemployed and unable to focus on cancer research on a daily basis.
And yet the reptiles that control this state were still not satisfied. To ensure that Dr. Hlatky was completely obliterated, totally erased, wiped off the map of cancer research and with no possibility of ever rebuilding or becoming an extramural threat, the reptiles arranged for her entire laboratory to be dismantled physically, the equipment sold off and the precious cell cultures and cell lines she had built up over decades of hard work were incinerated.
Burnt! Gone forever. Her life’s work physically turned into ash and dust.
Only that finally satisfied the reptiles in charge.
There is a special place in hell for the so-called judge, Joan Feeney, who ordered the incineration of precious cancer cell samples when she did not absolutely have to do so by law. Interestingly, the Federal Government intervened on behalf of Dr. Hlatky to block the incineration but the reptiles at Harvard proved more powerful than the United States.
Happily, however, the common decent people of Massachusetts who heard the case as members of the jury were totally appalled as all common decent people would be; common decent people who care about and for others with cancer, unlike so-called Judge Feeney. And they let their disgust be known loud and clear.
St. Elizabeth’s in the interim had been purchased by Cerberus and became part of Steward Healthcare. And Steward’s response to the disgust felt by common decent people? It said Dr. Hlatky was a nobody, not worth any research grant money, who had not done anything useful in her entire life. “As a physician, I feel the funds in question would be much better spent providing treatment to low-income cancer patients and other patients with chronic diseases in underserved communities – rather than enriching one disgruntled litigant,” said Dr. Michael Callum, Steward’s executive vice president.
Dr. Hlatky, with her comrade-in-arms throughout this reptilian travesty, Dr. Philip Hahnfeldt, has vowed to restore her cancer research lab with the money won in this lawsuit. But for their courage and steadfastness this outcome would have been impossible.
I for one wish them and all her lab staff a very happy reunion and great success in crushing cancer. Crushing the reptiles of Harvard was just the preview!
Bharani Padmanabhan MD PhD is a neurologist specializing in multiple sclerosis in the Boston area. scleroplex@gmail.com