Gerald Barnbaum (born 1933, in Chicago, Illinois), aka "Gerald Barnes" , was an impostor doctor or quack, and criminal who repeatedly posed as a medical doctor.
Originally trained as a pharmacist, Barnbaum had lost his license in the aftermath of Medicaid fraud charges in the mid-1970s. He moved to California, and, after having legally changed his last name to Barnes, in 1976 stole the identity of a licensed medical doctor, Gerald Barnes, and worked steadily as a physician in the Los Angeles and Southern California region for the next few years.
However, in 1979, his negligence and lack of medical knowledge contributed to the death of John McKenzie, a 29-year-old undiagnosed Type I diabetic from Anaheim who had complained of a dry mouth, chronic thirst, dizziness, and rapid weight loss--classic signs of uncontrolled diabetes. Barnbaum gave him a drug for vertigo and sent him home. His blood test came back a few days later, showing a blood-glucose content of 900--indicating severe hyperglycemia. He was found dead in his apartment the same day. In the ensuing investigation, Barnbaum was exposed as an impostor. In 1980, he was charged with second-degree murder in McKenzie's death; the charge was plea-bargained down to manslaughter and practicing without a medical license, for which he served only 19 months.
Despite McKenzie's death, after his release from prison and still on bail, Barnbaum continued to practice medicine fraudulently. He briefly served as a referral doctor, but was caught when he tried to apply for hospital privileges and the real Dr. Barnes blew the whistle. He was sent to prison four more times, but the state medical board never flagged the real Dr. Barnes' file.
In 1995, he obtained a position as staff physician at Executive Health Group, a Los Angeles clinic that handled physical checkups on FBI agents. However, he was unmasked when a new investigator for the state medical board inherited the Barnes case and questioned him. Under the weight of questioning, Barnbaum first feigned suicidal intent and then faked a heart attack. Facing a stiff sentence in federal prison, Barnbaum pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. During a transfer to another prison in 2000, Barnbaum escaped and again found work as a physician; he was found and arrested by authorities less than a month later. He is now serving his sentence at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, and is scheduled for release in 2018.
Further information
- Inmate information from United States Bureau of Prisons
- John Carlova. "A Loaded Gun Waiting to Go Off." Medical Economics, 1/21/1985.
- Elizabeth Fernandez. Bizarre Medical Masquerade:
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