Slaying the Giant

Uncovering the Things They Like to Hide

Dr. B. Sky

• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781098040758
• eBook ISBN: 9781098040765
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

The agency employs many dedicated employees modeling the institution's core values of integrity, commitment, advocacy, and respect. Other employees wear the values on their coat pockets but fail to incorporate the admirable values into their hearts. Unfortunately, these other employees often occupy positions of power and deflect fatalistic publicity onto unsuspecting innocent targets, scapegoats. I became a scapegoat during the nation's opioid epidemic. Following the shocking realization that the facility's executives blamed me for undesirable media and political inquiries, I knew I couldn't support the institution. The condemnation, finger-pointing, and retaliatory scrutiny became insurmountable. Worst of all, the crippling falsified accusations and distressing attention left me defenseless to protect patients and the community. I became a whistleblower disclosing unsafe opioid practices within the institution and beyond.As I reflect, I became a whistleblower long ago. As the hospital's opioid safety expert, I partnered with other clinicians and continuously educated executives about the existence of an opioid epidemic. Patients and people in the community experienced unintentional overdose and death because of unsafe prescribing and lack of monitoring by the agency. Our safety group educated leaders of the hospital, the community, and politicians about our concerns. Few executive leaders and politicians listened. Some listened but didn't like what they heard and intentionally chose to ignore cries for change. This true story uncovers the things they (disreputable leaders, politicians, and media personnel) like to hide about scandalous maneuvers by people in positions of power to deflect blame onto others when they face unsolicited investigations which would end careers and reflect poorly on the agency. Slaying the Giant, Uncovering the Things They Like to Hide outlines the tedious process of preparing for court, my testimony, testimonies by others, my attorneys' brilliant performances, and the aftermath of a whistleblowing process that took years to unfold.

Chapter 18

Direct Examination

Fear thou not; for I am with the: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee: yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

—Isaiah 41:10 (KJV)

David and I departed for the river city in the early summer of 2018. Our day in court was materializing before us in less than a week. I felt my stomach in my throat. I prayed to God to give me the strength and courage to press on in His glory. Amen.

The driving trip clocked in at forty-eight hours overall, so we took our time on this journey toward justice. I don’t like to fly if I don’t have to so we planned a visit to the great lakes area afterward to recuperate with supportive family and friends. We stopped overnight in the badlands and the following night in the land of cornfields and soybeans. Somehow, this comforted me. We completed the last leg of the journey to the river city and found a pleasant and bright hotel which would be our place of refuge for three nights.

Following a good night’s sleep which was a miracle in itself, we arose early and found our favorite Dunkin Donuts coffee spot. Oh, how I missed Dunkin Donuts coffee. Familiarity helped calm my nerves. We drove to the annex of the Facility by the River Health Care System, the location of the hearing. The judge resided in Chicago and we videoed in for the hearing from a small conference room in the annex of the hospital. The annex location proved to be perfect. Many of my dear friends and colleagues worked in this building. My Zumba buddies and I danced in this building, the good that came out of the bad of working at this facility. When I walked into the annex, I spotted a dear sister in Christ. We beamed with delight when we embraced. God sent me support. The police officer who let me into the facility smiled warmly. Did he know why I was there? I reunited with other close colleagues during the visit to my previous workplace. I believe God truly put each person in my path over those long days.

After finding the conference room, David and I realized we were early. We waited. David dressed casually. We believed I would be the only one allowed in the room. David could have stayed in the end; but he felt he was dressed inappropriately and we both agreed I may testify better if he was not present for what reason we thought this I am uncertain. After a long wait, I met Max for the first time in person. He brought another polished attorney with him to help navigate the hearing. Financially, the law firm provided me with a bargain to have two attorneys which I appreciated immensely. The two attorneys proved worthy of every penny. Max was amazingly prepared. Everyone could appreciate his preparedness. My face beamed like a proud mother gazing at her successful brilliant son. I thanked God for allowing Max to be my attorney. William knew how to set traps. Traps that snared liars. I did not see this quality initially. I wondered if William knew my case at all. He did not appear to be prepared. All of that doubt vanished as the trial proceeded. William’s value became evident during the enemies’ testimonies. He also provided support for Max, less experienced in court. They confided in one another continuously, plotting and planning. Long periods of silence would creep in while they collaborated; but I learned to stay silent and trust in their expertise.

I testified first. As the time to begin approached, I felt terrified. I prayed. I usually do well in front of crowds and I had much practice with public speaking due to all of my previous training and job duties. This situation proved to be different. I prayed again and again for strength, courage, God’s will to be done, and that I would not faint. I am a big fainter during times of illness, pain, and extreme fear. I did not faint.

I sat at the head of the table, facing the judge on the screen. My two attorneys sat to my right and the facility’s attorneys perched to my left with the meeting coordinator running the equipment. The judge appeared fair. I thanked God. You just never know in these situations. He had a stenographer with him. Introductions occurred and the judge asked me to raise my right hand. My day in court began.

Mr. Attorney:

Q What is your name?

A Dr. B. Sky

Q So, how long have you been a physician?

A Twenty-four years

Q And what made you want to become a doctor?

A I was very affected as a child about the Vietnam War and I always wanted to care for those war Veterans.

Q What was your position at FBTRHCS?

A I was the associate chief of staff (ACOS) for primary care. And I was also the opioid safety initiative champion for the facility.

Q Just for an acronym, what’s ACOS?

A ACOS, associate chief of staff.

Q All right, and were the positions you supervised all at one facility or at more than one.

A They were at more than one.

Q And what were all of those facilities?

A City 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Q And how did you come to be the ACOS at FBTRHCS?

A I was actually recruited based upon my experience in leadership and then also for my opioid safety experience.

Q And what exactly were your duties?

A I oversaw the primary care department on basically the daily operations with other administrative staff. I was in charge of hiring primary care providers and supervision. Credentialing and privileging, reviewing medical records for each provider, watching quality measures, safety issues, and things that go with running a primary care department.

Q And how much of your own clinical judge...

Table of contents

• Peace at Last
• Telling My Side of the Story, the Truth as I Honestly Told with Christ as My Witness
• Interrogatory Preparation
• Endless Interrogatories
• Patience My Dear Child, All in God’s Timing
• The Friend God Called Me to Visit on My Last Day before Retirement
• The First Data Dump by the Agency
• The Fuel of Encouragement
• My Attorney’s Response to the First Data Dump
• Recredentialing Scare
• A Narcissist Will Never Settle
• Discovering the Truth through the Eyes of the Enemy; Another Data Dump
• The Testimonies the Ignorant Oversight Body (IOB) Liked to Ignore
• The 8,005-Page Data Dump Received on the Day Before Pretrial
• Disclosures
• Prayer Warriors
• The Prehearing Meeting
• Direct Examination