The final touch in this case which simply makes it cry out for further investigation is the fact that Associate Medical Examiner Michael Berkland had lost his license in Missouri in 1998 for "misrepresentation or unethical conduct and knowingly making a false statement in the autopsy reports." As a result, Berkland was suspended from practice in Florida.
In 1999, Berkland's supervisor, Dr. Gary Cumberland, the Acting District Medical Examiner, who, by the way, had donated heavily--and perhaps beyond federal limits--to Joe Scarborough's election campaigns, said that he "still has full confidence in Berkland and no plans to replace him," according to Beach Browser, a local paper. It seems that Berkland was reinstated with the issuance of a "letter of guidance" by the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine.
Van Bergen provides a summary of the oddities surrounding Lori Klausutis's death:
* The congressman (an ardent and vocal supporter of G.W., by the way) resigns only six months after re-election, just prior to his aide's death. The reason: amid rumors of marital infidelity, the recently-divorced husband wants to spend more time with his sons.
* A medical examiner who had his license revoked in another state. Why? He lost it falsifying autopsies.
* The medical examiner's supervisor had contributed thousands of dollars to the congressman's election campaign.
* Contradictory reports about whether there is a visible head injury or not.
* A medical conclusion that contains several inconsistencies. First, that Mrs. Klausutis, who was a marathon runner, died of a cardiac arrhythmia. Second, that although she had suffered a fractured skull and a "contracoup" bruise on the opposite side of the brain, the injury could not possibly have been caused by a physical assault.
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