Suspended MD, patient speak

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Dr. George Korol says he pleaded guilty to domestic assault to get out of jail earlier. (JOE.BRYKSA@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

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Audrey Murphy undergoing chemotherapy. (PHIL.HOSSACK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

Dr. George Korol wanted to tell me his side of the story. Regrettably, he didn't do himself any favours.

But then how could he, when the heart of the suspended Winnipeg physician's version of events is that his being committed to a mental health facility and jailed three times over the last 14 years are all one person's fault?

"My wife is behind all this."

None of the courts he's been in, most recently for a domestic assault to which he pleaded guilty, have seen it that way.

Personally, I prefer the side of the story told by a patient named Audrey Murphy. But first Dr. Korol's story.

***

"The theme," the 56-year-old Winnipeg-born family practitioner said, "is a woman I fell in love with in California." Korol went on to describe his younger-by-seven-years wife Shelly in terms both flattering -- "California blonde... very high IQ" -- and unflattering.

The latter is hardly surprising given that they're in the midst of divorcing.

For the second time.

It gets complicated, so let's get back to Korol's simpler version.

That it's all her fault.

"Each time that she believed I had an affair, I wound up in jail. For one reason or another."

I'm not sure how Korol can blame his wife for his 1995 California five-year sentence for arson after using a gasoline-filled Snapple bottle to firebomb his mother-in-law's home. This after his wife had sought sanctuary there with their baby daughter.

I wondered if he was taking medication at the time for his bipolar condition. He said he doesn't remember.

Korol admits it was stupid, but not that it was arson. He explained he simply fired up the patio -- without a barbeque unfortunately -- because he was desperate "to communicate with her."

It was the still-smoking aftermath of the arson case that had the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba under attack this week for licensing Korol when he returned here. Korol elaborated on that even if the college hasn't. He said it took more than a year of "intense scrutiny" before he was granted his medical licence, including being scrutinized by three psychiatrists. In the end, he said, a condition was attached to his licence that stipulated he had to see a psychiatrist at least every three months. Later, after he was committed briefly to a mental health facility in 2005, the college had his work monitored by another physician as a condition of his licence.

Korol's most recent suspension earlier this year came following the domestic assault -- to which he said he pleaded guilty to get out of jail more quickly -- and allegations from a former member of his clinic staff that he wrote fake prescriptions.

In telling his side of the story, Korol admitted he has written prescriptions in his wife's name that he has used instead for his bipolar condition.

"The last five years, this happened on three occasions," he said.

Korol said the college hasn't charged him with anything yet.

"But I'm fearful because of all this adverse publicity and the political pressure on the college they'll move to charge me with some sort of unprofessional conduct soon. Just to make it look like they're doing something."

Still, he contended, the college should lift his suspension and restore his licence.

"Because in 10 years of working here, there have never been any patient complaints."

"Do you know Audrey Murphy?" I asked Korol.

"Yes," he said.

***

Audrey Murphy has never complained to the college about the doctor she saw for four years, and she never would. Like many of his patients, she still appreciates his "winning personality."

Although, over the years, she noticed him changing.

"Towards the end... that fiery temper would come flying through. And sometimes you'd go in and you could just, you looked at him and you knew that somebody... or something had got him upset."

Then she sensed there was something wrong in her abdomen and she went to see her doctor.

She sensed it could be serious.

"My health was going down and I kept saying it to him. And each time, he'd say, 'Oh, we have to send you for some tests, Audrey. And then he'd say, 'Next time you come in, we'll figure it out.' "

Audrey kept making appointments.

"I'd go in the next time. I'd say, well, when do I go for the tests? 'What tests?' You know, his mind was always on something else."

Finally she gave up on Korol.

"I was troubled that he was not doing the best by me, so I came home the next day I guess it was, I called a cab and I went to the Misericordia."

The doctor who saw her ran some tests and gave her a quick answer.

"My dear, you are in trouble."

A couple of days later, the Misericordia doctor phoned. She said, "Audrey, I'm sorry dear, but I'm sending you to the cancer clinic."

Not long after, they told Audrey she probably would be dead by her 77th birthday this past August.

"As you can tell," she said cheerfully, "I'm a very lively corpse."

"I'm prepared to meet my God."

What she wasn't quite prepared for, though, was meeting Dr. Korol to tell him she had cancer. She didn't blame him. She didn't even know if ordering the tests earlier could have saved her life. She's had it for a long time.

But Audrey had to tell him what the tests he hadn't ordered had found.

"He was soooo upset. He was like an animal in a cage. He just walked up and down the office, up and down the office. And he said, 'Oh, my God what have I done, what have I done?' She also recalled him saying this:

"Oh my God Audrey, what have I got myself into?"

She said Korol was weeping.

"He was sorry. He was sorry that he hadn't sent me for tests earlier."

Then, the most extraordinary thing happened.

Audrey Murphy began feeling more sorry for him than she did for herself.

"I found myself putting my arms around Dr. Korol and saying, 'Everything will work out.' "

Of course, it hasn't worked out for either of them. But at least Audrey Murphy is at peace with herself and her future. She can only wish George Korol could be, too.

"He was a good doctor."

gordon.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 5, 2009 B1