NC - Melvin Levine, renowned pediatrician and pedophile*found deceased*

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The Charlotte Observer is just reporting that Levine left a suicide note.

"Sheriff: Pediatrician Accused of Sexual Abuse Left Suicide Note"

Excerpt:CHAPEL HILL Mel Levine, 71, a nationally renowned pediatrician accused of sexual misconduct with boy patients beginning in the 1960s, left a suicide note before he was found dead last week.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office responded to Levine’s home in Rougemont after a call from his wife just after midnight Friday. The sheriff’s report does not list a cause of death or tell where Levine’s body was found but says his wife had last seen him Feb. 12.

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/02/22/2083204/death-of-pediatrician-accused.html#ixzz1EjrUSllK

That means that Levine disappeared five days before the press conference about the victims' suits.
From all accounts, it sounds like Carmen Durso, the lawyer for the victims, is going to pursue the lawsuit. As he well should.
 
So the question is: where did Levine die? When did he die? Was it before the press conference about the lawsuits?
 
So who tipped him off that the lawsuits were coming and when did he die, because it seems like a coincidence that he was discovered the day after the announcement....Maybe she was out of town.
 
Or maybe he was out of town. I can't tell if she found the suicide note after the press conference or whether she knew he was already dead after she found the note.

Perhaps they found the body elsewhere and then she found the note?
 
May I ask a question? Can a suicide note be subpoenaed or is it the sole property of the one who is it written to?

Are the suicide notes written by victims also allowed to used as evidence?

If his wife, BL, is defending his innocence, why would she tell LE if she found a suicide note? Why not just report his disappearance? This should be interesting.
 
I don't think this has been posted:

http://ldblog.com/2011/02/22/levine-suit-to-continue/

"Carmen L. Durso, the attorney representing 45 men who claim that Dr. Melvin Levine manipulated their genitals during private examinations for Learning Disabilities when the men were children or youths, said that their suit against Dr. Levine will proceed against his estate now that he has died.

Appearing on NECN’s “The Broadside,” Mr. Durso told interviewer Jim Braude that he has 45 people in the group, but that he has talked with “at least 60.” People say “thousands” were abused, but it is difficult to ascertain how that number is reached.

Mr. Durso is the attorney who represented the clients in the suit against Dr. Levine that was settled in the 1990s.

After Mr. Braude asked whether suicide as a cause of death would influence legal actions, Mr. Durso noted that there are legal consequences of suicide that could come into play. Courts may take suicide into account when determining whether there is tacit admission of culpability...."

more at link
 
A news report in North Carolina says Levine was found dead at his home in Rougemont the day after the press conference about the lawsuit.

So either his wife was out of town, or perhaps they no longer lived together?
 
Missizzy: Check out the angry words from this pediatrician from Dr. J's House blog who posted on the Boston Herald :

http://bostonherald.com/business/healthcare/view.bg?articleid=1318731&format=comments&cnum=1

The hicks down in North Carolina won't withhold anything from this lawyer and his angry ANONYMOUS mob.

And you'll forgive me/others if we wait for that investigation to play itself out - and to actually read Levine's note. A suicide just as easily could have been the act of a man under vicious attack drowning in despair - and the note a dying declaration of innocence.

With Durso's emphasis being on money and settlements, it's harder and harder to believe that this lawsuit has anything to do with justice.

It's bizarre, her obsession with victims being anonymous. I know that newspapers NEVER publish the names of molestation victims in civil suits, unless they are specifically given permission to do so by the victims. I've known of cases where All of the reporters know the name of the victims, but they still won't publish them. Wonder what her problem is?
 
It fascinates me that she will go onto the WWW blaming the victims but will not receive comments on her own blog-this is the same person right? Will dish it but will not take it.

I think her behavior borders on the unbalanced-is she a practicing physician Mercyneal?
 
She closes off all comments whenever she writes about the Levine case which indeed is cowardly.

It's not clear to me what her status is as a physician. If you look at her website, she has a huge amount of anger towards the North Carolina Medical Board for something. Not clear to me what it is.

She has also misstated the facts of the Levine case in the past.
 
Yes, I saw Dr. J's site. She's the one who jumped on us in the past. I do not understand that woman. However, I still think the sites extolling Levine's work get to me more right now.

Has everyone seen the obit?

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/obituary.aspx?n=melvin-david-levine&pid=148809327

Mercyneal, can you once again explain what Levine's status was with his license. Do they really have a right to refer to him as Dr., instead of former Dr. I'm reminded of Nixon. He was referred to as former President Nixon. He had been one but he stepped down before he was knocked off that perch. I know that Levine agreed to stop practicing but did he retain the title?
 
I wont speak for Mercy-NC Medical Board told me he had no legal standing as an M.D. IIRC, his schooling was as a physician, not as a PhD.
 
I had to wait until 4 pm to read the obit as I needed a glass of wine in hand. Lord help us all. That was the most disgusting, gratuitous, ostentatious obit I've ever read, knowing what I know. It literally shovels salt in the victims wounds and almost sneers at them. I can accept the fact that the man's passing should be noted. His accolades can even be listed. But whomever wrote this (BL, probably) seems to not have a care in the world about the hundreds or thousands of children harmed by this man. Is she a co-conspirator ("invaluable supporter and assistant in his many endeavors, often tempering Mel's unyielding intellectual curiosity with a dose of pragmatism") or living in total and oblivious denial?

He "always left his patients and their families with a sense of optimism", the "Head Pooh-bah", "boundless creativity, insight and compassion". I'm shaking my head and hoping to high heaven that the many victims have good support systems in place as they read these words. The epitome of poorest taste and judgement, given the legal actions of the last week.

Why did I waste a very nice glass of chardonnay on this? I should have had a shot of cheap whiskey.



Do we have LE confirmation that a body was actually found?
 
I think you are correct, Believe. I see no PhDs. All Levine's degrees seem to be in medicine. His obit outlines his education quite thoroughly. Actually, it's helpful in tracking his life's work.
 
Missizzy: Yes, the news reports say that a body was found at his home in Rougemont, North Carolina. I wonder what the cause of death was- poison?
 
Someone named "Addie"joined Malesurvivors today and makes excuses for Levine. I am thinking it would be nice if we could hear from some victims of Levine here.

http://www.malesurvivor.org/board/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=280248&page=3

Addie says that in the 60s and 70s it was normal for pediatricians to take measurements and photographs of the genitalia during the exam and that children had privacy- implying that parents weren't in the room.

Huh? I was raised in the 1960s and I have never heard of such a thing. Any Websleuth readers here had their genitalia measured and photographed by their pediatrician?

Methinks "Addie" is a pedophile in disguise.
 
Also, that awful Dr. Mary Johnson can no longer complain about the victims of Levine being anonymous, as many of them gave their full names to the Boston Globe story.
 
Here's an excerpt from today's Globe story. I am so glad these brave victims have come forward to combat all of those "Dr. Levine did such good work " stories:

Among the alleged victims who joined Durso’s latest lawsuit, Neil Liston still harbors deep anger toward Levine. The 38-year-old personal trainer from Nahant said Levine fondled and performed oral sex on him during an appointment at Children’s in 1979 when he was 7.
 
Their bravery humbles me. And I know, all too well, the price it extracts. I am sick to death of insipid rationale for these behaviors.

Bless these men and their families. May they find solace and support.
 
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