Dr. Georgescu: Prescription For His Own Demise

"Dr. Victor Georgescu — the physician who operated out of the last pain clinic in Scioto County — was found dead over the weekend, authorities said on Monday.

"The Liberty, Ohio Police Department received a call from Super 8 Motel on Saturday. The caller advised police a subject in Room No. 122 was lying on the floor and was unresponsive. Liberty Fire as well as two patrolmen responded the scene, and it was determined the male subject had died. The Trumbull County Coroners office was notified by officers, and responded to the scene.

“'Right now we are treating this as a drug related death,' Trumbull County Coroner, Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk, said. 'Drug tests, or toxicology usually takes about eight weeks turn around time. So we’ll know more when the drug testing comes back in about eight weeks.'


"According to the police report, an empty bottle of 90 proof vodka, and a cup used to mix prescription medication, were found in the room."


(Frank Lewis, "Alleged Pain Clinic Doctor Found Dead," Portsmouth Daily Times, August 6 2012)


Georgescu was scheduled to go on trial on September 17. He had been free on $150,000 bond and had surrendered his passport. In many ways, he was trapped and, most likely, tortured by his memories. What a sad, lonely end for a doctor of medicine.


Online, the doctor lists his specialties as anesthesiology and pain medicine. Georgescu has been practicing for 22 years. He completed his studies at Universitatea De Medicina Si, Farmacie Carol Davila, Facultatea, De Medicina in 1986.


An Internet site claims he has made the Honor Roll as a HealthGrades Recognized Doctor. It also states Georgescu has no history of malpractice; no history of sanctions by a state medical board, professional medical licensing organization, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and no complaints filed my a patient or by a medical colleague. His overall patient rating was 2.5 stars of a possible 5 stars.


Online information gave his six hospital affiliations as the following:

UPMC Saint Margaret
815 Freeport Rd, Pittsburgh, PA 15215

UPMC Presbyterian/Shadyside
200 Lothrop St, Pittsburgh, PA 15213

UPMC Horizon
110 N Main St, Greenville, PA 16125

Jordan Hospital Inc
275 Sandwich St, Plymouth, MA 02360

St Joseph Health Center
667 Eastland Ave SE, Warren, OH 44484

Bradford Regional Medical Center
116 Interstate Pkwy, Bradford, PA 16701

Dr. Georgescu's online addresses include the following:

Doctors Pain Clinic
1070 E State St
Salem, OH 44460
   

Doctors Pain Center LLC
2120 Likens Ln Ste 102
Farrell, PA 16121

 

 

 

Anesthesiologists Do Inc.
1011 Boardman Canfield Rd
Youngstown, OH 44512

Unnamed

201 5th St NE Ste 11
Barberton, OH 44203

Unnamed

667 Eastland Ave SE
Warren, OH 44484


Unnamed
 275 Sandwich St
Plymouth, MA 02360

According to an online site, some of the insurance plans accepted at his “pain clinics” include Medicare, Signa, Evercare, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, and Medical Mutual of Ohio.

Online Information: http://www.vitals.com/doctors/Dr_Victor_Georgescu

                                 http://www.healthgrades.com/physician/dr-victor-georgescu-y3hpb

I am sure when Greater Medical Advance at 8744 Ohio River Road, in Wheelersburg was raided on December 20, 2011, some of the online information above about sanctions, complaints, and malpractice should have been amended. Georgescu was the doctor there and was arrested that same day at his home in Centerville, Ohio. Greater Medical Advance was the last of 10 pill mills closed in Scioto County.

I believe no one should celebrate death. I think Dr. Georgescu was a very troubled man. Although unconfirmed, it appears the doctor committed suicide. We will never know the real reason why this man chose to take his life, nor will we ever know why he chose to live a great part of it on the dark side as a doctor of pill mills.


We could speculate that the doctor, himself, was an addict. We could say that his love of money drove him to practice illegally. We could say some terrible event in his life damaged his conscious and caused him to betray his sacred medical oath. Now, the courts will never hear the real “story” of Dr. Victor Georgescu. He is gone, and he has taken with him any insight into his motivations. Some will surely call him a coward for ending his own life before the trial.

In some ways the doctor's death represents closure for people like Barbara Howard, whose daughter Leslie Dawn Cooper died at the age of 34 on October 3, 2009, as a result of a drug overdose, she says was caused by Georgescu, who wrote her daughter’s prescriptions. Yet, nothing can ever really heal the pain Barbara feels each day.

How ironic is Georgescu's apparent death by overdose? It is almost as if the demon monster was driven to devour the creator of the horror – something one might view in the last scene of a Gothic film. Why would a person who believed in pain management choose this method to commit suicide? Perhaps the doctor wanted to sacrifice his own life with the deadly cocktail that has consumed so many as some symbol or warning. Or, maybe he just didn't want to face agonizing withdrawal and certain imprisonment.


Whatever the case, he chose his time to expire. When he was living and practicing medicine, he should have chosen to make the health of his patients his first priority, but instead he willingly and recklessly distributed deadly doses of drugs and chose to live with the consequences of his actions. Those who died and suffered permanent damage at his hands never wanted to expire. He contributed to their addiction and overdose. Many, like Leslie, never knew the end was coming. Georgescu did not allow them to have any say in their demise.


I know forgiveness is the ultimate gift anyone can give. What a shame Dr. Georgescu did not choose to live to ask for forgiveness of the living who continue to suffer from his sins. Perhaps he never would have chosen to do so. And, I don't know if any of those damaged souls will forgive him in order to lighten their own burdens.

I am sure, however, in his last hours, the doctor did have to answer a question from the Maker. It's the question that someone who chooses evil must always answer: “Why?”


I'm going to try to follow the good lives of my Christian friends and pray for Dr. Georgescu's soul. I think if he is truly sorry, in some way, in heaven or in hell, he may decide to make amends and advance the cause to defeat drug abuse. If anyone should confess his sins, I believe he should. If he is offered a clean slate, what do you think he would chose to do now?