Associate medical examiner suspended in licensing flap

FORT WALTON BEACH, AP -- An associate medical examiner in the Florida Panhandle has been suspended after his Missouri doctor's license was revoked.

The suspension initially will be with pay because Dr. Michael Berkland had accumulated leave time he has not yet taken, said Dr. Gary Cumberland, the acting district medical examiner, at his Pensacola office Monday.

Berkland, based in Fort Walton Beach, is appealing his Missouri revocation. His job suspension will be in effect while the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine reviews his case. That panel can decide to take no action or suspend or revoke his Florida license. It also could fine him.

The Missouri license revocation stemmed from Berkland's 1996 firing as a contract medical examiner in Jackson County, Mo., which includes Kansas City, in a dispute over his caseload and autopsy reports.

Berkland had incorrectly stated on the reports that he had taken sections of several brains to be preserved as specimens for medical conferences and teaching purposes. He called them "proofreading errors" and the Missouri attorney general's office found they did not jeopardize any criminal cases.

The Missouri State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts nevertheless obtained a court order prohibiting Berkland from performing autopsies there, which he also is appealing. The Missouri Administrative Hearing Commission then ruled he was subject to discipline against his license for misrepresentation or unethical conduct and knowingly making a false statement in the autopsy reports.

Berkland contended the actions against him in Missouri were politically motivated and unfair because he was unable to present evidence in his defense.

"I am not trying to stave off punishment," he said. "I believe I certainly should be punished."

He said, however, he believed Florida officials would agree that his punishment was too severe and allow him to resume working. Cumberland, whose district covers four counties, said he still has full confidence in Berkland and no plans to replace him.

In the meantime, bodies from Okaloosa and Walton counties that would have been handled by Berkland in Fort Walton Beach, are being sent to Pensacola for autopsies.

[Posted 07/20/1999 3:45 PM EST]

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