Corrupt Doc Celebrates Dubious Victory

November 3, 2012

2 Nov – A recent profile featured in OpEdNews.com, the Make It Safe Campaign website, and the Whistleblower Support Fund website, claims that Dr. James Murtagh scored a “victory that could change the way U.S. hospitals manage their physicians” with a ruling by the Georgia Court of Appeals.

James John Murtagh MD

However, a review of that ruling reveals a somewhat more tempered picture. The appeals court ruled that the trial judge erred in imposing a criminal contempt order instead of a civil contempt order and that the attorney fees paid were inappropriate. The appeals court noted that “A permanent injunction is still in effect, a violation of which could result in the incarceration of Dr. Murtagh.

Contrary to what the profile implies, the ruling does not disturb the merits of Murtagh’s case: It did not reverse arbitration decisions finding that he committed perjury, manipulated evidence, withheld discovery documents, and breached a settlement agreement with Emory University by impersonating Emory officials and sending defamatory emails. The ruling also did not disturb an award of approximately $666,000 to Emory, $500,000 of which are to be deducted from Murtagh’s $1.6 million structured settlement with the university in 2001.

In May 2008, Murtagh and former medical student Kevin Kuritzky alleged that a UC Berkeley Professor was guilty of genocide and that an investigative reporter had lied about this Harpers exposé on the corruption of AIDS. Because of the seriousness of their allegations, the Semmelweis Society International asked private investigator Clark Baker to investigate. Two months later, Baker submitted The Semmelweis Report (also known as Gallo’s Egg), which revealed that the allegations made by Murtagh and Kuritzky were false. Both were later discovered to have court-documented histories of making false claims and accusations against innocent parties.

Since then, Kevin Kuritzky dropped out of law school, changed his name and traveled to Israel – possibly to complete his medical degree.

Dr. Murtagh is still licensed, but moves from one unsuspecting hospital to the next, filing lawsuits against hospitals that often end his contract weeks after being hired. Because of Murtagh’s notorious and ongoing behavior, OMSJ provides support to the website JamesMurtaghMDtruth.com, which tracks lawsuits and will post public court documents filed on his behalf.

UPDATE 1 Dec 2012: Dr. Murtagh’s unlawfully records telephone conversations like this, this, and this to prepare cases against his targets.

UPDATE 27 Dec 2012:  Like the OpEd story, blogger Mike Volpe does not explain Murtagh’s tax evasion, ID theft, vexatious litigation or his penchant for illegally recording conversations with his targets (1, 2, 3).  To avoid troubling questions about his latest story, there is no comments section. For more about Dr. Murtagh and his associates, see:

UPDATE 10 October 2014: Kuritzky admits to having served as “foot soldier” for Dr. Murtagh.