Kevin Patterson
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The Department of National Defence
(DND) has dropped its criminal investigation into BC
internist and author Kevin Patterson's alleged military
security breach, army officials told NRM in late
September.
But a second investigation by the
DND's Health Services branch is still ongoing to determine
if Dr Patterson violated medical ethics. Both cases
stem from a magazine article he wrote in which he named
and disclosed the details of his attempt to save Cpl
Kevin Megeney. His death by shooting in March inside
a coalition base in Kandahar, Afghanistan, is still
the subject of a DND inquiry. Former soldier Dr Patterson
volunteered as a civilian doctor in Kandahar ealier
this year.
"The Canadian Forces National Investigation
Services investigation found no evidence to suggest
that the submission of the article for publication by
Dr Patterson constituted an offence under the National
Defence Act," says DND spokesperson Capt Cindy Tessier.
Both investigations started in
early August, after Dr Patterson's essay "Talk to me
like my father" appeared in the US magazine Mother
Jones.
The criminal investigation could
potentially have led to criminal charges or a court
martial.
The Health Services investigation,
on the other hand, cannot result in charges being laid
against Dr Patterson. "[The Health Services investigators]
have a handful of different recommendations they can
look into," says Capt Tessier, including whether Dr
Patterson will be permitted to work for the Canadian
Forces in the future or whether the DND should file
a formal complaint with the College of Physicians and
Surgeons of BC over the alleged breach of doctor-patient
confidentiality.
The investigations haven't distracted
Dr Patterson from his writing. His debut novel, Consumption
(excerpted in NRM in February), was released
in the US in August to wide critical acclaim. He's also
edited a book of essays called Outside the Wire
by Canadian soldiers and physicians who have served
in the Afghanistan war that will be published in late
December or early January.
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