Ohio Doctor Accused Of Threatening To Give Jewish Patients Wrong Medication

CLEVELAND –A Jewish human rights organization is calling for the license of an Ohio doctor to be revoked after reports of anti-Semitic tweets, including one saying she would intentionally give Jewish patients the wrong medication.

Dr. Lara Kollab was a first-year resident of osteopathic medicine at Cleveland Clinic from July to September 2018, the medical center said in a statement. Her term was supposed to last until July 2019, but the Cleveland Clinic said when her now-deleted social media posts came to light the clinic conducted an internal review.

“Her departure was related to those posts and she has not worked at Cleveland Clinic since September,” the medical center said in a statement.

Eileen Sheil, Cleveland Clinic’s executive director of corporate communications, told CNN that although Kollab’s license is still instated, she does not have the ability to practice medicine at this time.

Kollab was only licensed as a trainee, Sheil said, “which means she has to be part of a residency and she is currently not a resident anywhere.” Sheil added that because of the scheduling of residency programs, Kollab cannot join a program until July.

CNN has attempted to reach out to Kollab.

A statement from the clinic confirmed that one of the social media posts was about deliberately giving the wrong medication to Jewish people but emphasized that “multiple safeguards and direct supervision are required for patient care and prescribing medicine. In addition, there have been no reports of any patient harm related to her work.”

But even though Kollab is no longer a medical resident, the Simon Wiesenthal Center says there is more to be done to keep the public safe.

“While the Cleveland Clinic did the right thing, this person remains a menace to the community-at-large and has made a mockery of the Hippocratic Oath through her hatred. To protect the public, her Medical License should be revoked,” said a statement from Rabbi Marvin Hier, Founder and Dean of the Wiesenthal Center, and Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the Center’s Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action.

“We urge authorities to investigate if her threats could be prosecuted,” the statement said.

Kollab graduated from a Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, a Jewish affiliated school.

The school tweeted, “Touro College is appalled by the anti-Semitic comments reportedly made by Lara Kollab, a graduate of the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine. The mission of Touro College is to educate, perpetuate and enrich the historic Jewish tradition of tolerance and dignity.

“We are shocked that one of our graduates would voice statements that are antithetical to Touro and to the physicians’ Hippocratic Oath.”