U.S.
doctor sanctioned for 'abhorrent and abnormal' troop training
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[June 20, 2015]
By John Shiffman
RICHMOND, Va. (Reuters) - A state board
revoked the license of a former U.S. Army doctor on Friday, finding that
he plied students with hypnotic drugs during battlefield-trauma training
and performed dangerous procedures, including intentionally inducing
shock.
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The doctor, John Henry Hagmann, was cited for training he provided
in 2012 and 2013 in Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado and Great
Britain. Students testified on Friday that Hagmann also performed
penile nerve blocks and instructed them to insert catheters into one
another's genitals.
"The evidence is so overwhelming and so bizarre as to almost shock
the conscience of a prosecutor who's been doing this for 26 years,"
Assistant Attorney General Frank Pedrotty told the Virginia Board of
Medicine.
Two students provided the board with pictures of chest scars they
received when procedures went awry. Three students testified that
others became violently ill or began hallucinating after Hagmann
gave them ketamine.
"What we're seeing is way off the charts," said board chair Kevin
O'Connor. "Quite honestly, I'm speechless."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Jun/20/images/ads/current/graue_sda_june2015.png) Hagmann, who did not appear at Friday's hearing, has told Reuters
that he did nothing wrong. Hagmann can appeal but could not be
reached for comment afterward.
"This is so abhorrent and abnormal," testified John Prescott, chief
academic officer, Association of American Medical Colleges. "In a
combat setting, I have a hard time – I mean, there's no indication
you would ever need a penile block, ever."
Reuters reported on Wednesday that military officials had long known
about Hagmann's methods. A four-star general briefly halted them in
2005, but the doctor resumed his government contracts, earning at
least $10.5 million since then.
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Two male students testified on Friday about private rectal exams.
One said that he gave Hagmann an exam that the doctor filmed. The
other described regret that he allowed Hagmann to perform a rectal
exam on him.
"I can't imagine a worse violation of trust," said the student,
whose name, like other trainees who testified, was shielded from the
public. "There's no excuse for the way this course was run."
Colonel Neil Page, who investigated the matter for the Uniformed
Service University for the Health Sciences, the military medical
school, testified that Hagmann's defense that the students
volunteered for procedures is irrelevant because they were
intoxicated.
"There was a line that was crossed," Page said.
(Reporting by John Shiffman; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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