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Thursday, September 27, 2018

RATTLING THE TIN CUP DRAWS ATTENTION: CHUCK STOCKWELL "JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS" OF DEVOS-FUNDED GREAT LAKES EDUCATION PROJECT?

BREAKING NEWS: CHARTER SCHOOL FREEBOOTER  MAY HAVE VIOLATED MICHIGAN CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS WITH ANTI-PUBLIC SCHOOL DIATRIBE

Charter honcho Chuck Stockwell's September 17, 2018 letter to the entire Charyl Stockwell Academy District (including parents), first reported by Up North Progressive, may be a violation of Michigan's campaign finance laws.

In addition, Stockwell's letter spurred a response from Livingston County's five public school superintendents, and drawn the attention of the Michigan Department of Education. 

Up North Progressive has the exclusive story.

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER BRUCE LANGLOIS, STRIPPED OF VET LICENSE IN 2015, IS RUNNING TWO PET BOARDING CENTERS; DELAY GROWS WHILE LANGLOIS UNLOADS HIS 15-ROOM HOUSE, "LEAVE TO APPEAL" REACHES MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT

18 MONTHS AFTER HIS ARRAIGNMENT ON THREE FELONY COUNTS OF UNAUTHORIZED PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE, DISGRACED FORMER DOCTOR BRUCE LANGLOIS HAS STILL NOT GONE TO TRIAL! 
Chez Langlois, Lowell

On March 1, 2017, Michigan Attorney General announced he had charged Bruce Phillip Langlois, D.V.M., with three felony counts of Unauthorized Practice of Veterinary Medicine for allegedly presenting himself as a licensed veterinarian and practicing veterinary medicine with a suspended veterinary license. 

Each charge is punishable by up to five years in jail and/or a fine of $5,000. Langlois, of Lowell, was charged as a habitual offender 3rd Offense. 

“This man repeatedly violated the rules of his profession to the point of his license was revoked but even that was not enough to stop him,” said Schuette. “People like Mr. Langlois who believe they operate outside the law will end up facing the consequences. It is a stark reminder that we must remain diligent and do our research when choosing who to trust with our pet’s health.” 

Langlois was arraigned on Wednesday, March 1, 2017 before Judge David Harrington in 73B District Court in Bad Axe. Bond was set at $10,000. 

But Langlois has yet to face trial for those 2017 charges, while his “leave to file a delayed appeal” has gone from the Michigan Court of Appeals to Michigan's Supreme Court.

On September 6, 2018, four days before a scheduled pretrial conference in Huron County Circuit Court, an attorney representing Langlois filed an “Application for Leave to Supreme Court” with the Michigan Court of Appeals.

An answer is due October 4, 2018.

LIKE A TABLECLOTH...A CHECKERED PAST

Langlois lost his license in 2015 for negligence, incompetence and “lack of good moral character’’ and later lost a bid to have it reinstated.

Langlois ran the Animal Hospital of Lowell and a mobile business called Spay Neuter Express. 

A panel of the Michigan Board of Veterinary Medicine in 2015 revoked his license and fined Langlois $25,000 for myriad problems ranging from poor record keeping to inadequate follow-up care. Langlois took his case to the Michigan Court of Appeals, saying his license revocation was not supported by “competent, material and substantial evidence.’’ 

In a three-page ruling released Tuesday, February 14, 2017, the Appeals Court disagreed. It upheld the revocation and a $25,000 fine. 

“With regard to inadequate recordkeeping in general, there was adequate evidence (Langlois) kept inadequate records,’’ justices wrote. In a 17-page administrative complaint, the state accused Langlois of negligence, incompetence, lack of good moral character, failure to maintain medical records and failure to arrange for emergency coverage or provide follow-up evaluation on animals he treated. 

At a hearing before a panel of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Langlois testified that he ran a full-service animal clinic and two mobile clinics called the ‘Spay Neuter Express,’ which Langlois described as “a complete hospital on wheels.’’ The mobile clinics offered low-cost spays, neuters, vaccinations and parasite control. “We’ve got everything, basically, that we have in our brick-and-mortar clinic,’’ he said, adding that he does “at least a thousand surgeries a month,’’ according to court records. 

The state said Langlois provided substandard care to multiple animals. Witnesses at the earlier hearing including veterinarian Suzanne Laskaska, who testified that the owner of a dog named Pepper was unable to reach Langlois with follow-up issues after Langlois performed surgery on the dog in early 2012, court records show. The dog developed a 'targerine-sized knot' under the incision made by Langlois. Laskaska said the knot was indicative of a blood clot, which eventually burst, leading to "extensive and costly treatment.'' 

Langlois "failed to adequately document the care and treatment provided to Pepper,'' the state said, noting that the spaying procedure was performed, despite Pepper having a "deep-seated bacterial skin infection.'' 

Langlois had his license suspended in February 1996 after he was convicted the previous year in Kent County Circuit Court for fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. He also has a 1988 conviction for fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in Kent County and will spend the rest of his life on Michigan’s Sex Offender Registry

Langlois, Michigan Sex Offender Registry
He came under scrutiny in Oct. 2008 for failing to maintain proper records of animal treatments, failing to maintain proper records on controlled substance usage and failing to adequately sterilize surgical equipment. 

Three years later, Langlois was accused of using a non-FDA approved solution to arouse animals after surgery and performing multiple spays and neuters of animals without changing gloves or washing hands between procedures. He was also accused of failing to diagnose kidney failure of a dog, resulting in the animal being euthanized. 

Langlois received his veterinary license in Aug. 1985. 

WHAT'S TAKING SO LONG? 

In 2016, the Michigan Bureau of Professional Licensing received complaints that defendant had performed “spay and neuter” surgeries without a valid license. 

An investigation confirmed that Langlois owned a business called “Spay and Neuter Express.” 

Dr. Duane Fitzgerald, a licensed veterinarian, worked for Spay Neuter Express as an independent contractor and was designated as its attending veterinarian. 

Dr. Fitzgerald described the business as “an ambulatory service that serves remote areas or rural areas for spaying and neutering people’s pets set up in a mobile home that has been converted to a surgical facility.” 

Langlois was charged with three counts of the unauthorized practice of a health profession, related to performing veterinary surgery in December 2016 while his license to practice veterinary medicine was revoked. 

During a preliminary examination, Dr. Fitzgerald testified that on December 16, 2016, Langlois performed many of the surgeries that had been scheduled for that day, and that he and Langlois performed their respective surgeries in the same general area. 

Dr. Fitzgerald stated that he did not oversee Langlois, and agreed that he did nothing to ensure that Langlois was performing the procedures properly and did not check to see how many procedures he had completed. 

Fitzgerald also believed the animals on which defendant operated were Langlois’s patients, not his. 

Dr. Fitzgerald was aware that Langlois’s veterinary license had been suspended or revoked. 

He characterized Langlois as “a competent surgeon who possessed the knowledge and skills to perform veterinary surgery.” 

After Langlois was bound over to the circuit court for trial in 2017, he moved to quash the information on the ground that Dr. Fitzgerald, a licensed veterinarian, had properly delegated to him the surgical tasks that he performed. 

In response, the prosecution asserted that a delegation defense was unavailable as a matter of law, and also moved to preclude defendant from presenting such a defense to the jury. 

After an evidentiary hearing, at which Dr. Fitzgerald testified consistently with his preliminary examination testimony, the trial court denied the prosecution’s motion, stating that there was not “anything within the statutes or rules that say,‘You cannot perform a surgery’ ” and that it was “a question for the jury.” 

Langlois argued before the trial court, and argued on appeal, that there is no specific statute or administrative rule prohibiting the delegation of veterinary tasks (including surgery) to an individual whose license has been suspended, noting that the Board of Veterinary Medicine has promulgated a rule regarding delegation that does not preclude the delegation of tasks to unlicensed individuals. 

In its July 12, 2018, the Michigan Court of Appeals opinion stated Langlois’s argument ignored the fact that MCL 333.16215(1) prohibits a licensee from delegating an act, task, or function that, “under standards of acceptable and prevailing practice, requires the level of education, skill, and judgment required of [a] licensee . . . .” MCL 333.16215(1).” 

At the motion hearing, unrebutted expert testimony by Dr. Dwight McNally, a licensed veterinarian who sits on the State Veterinary Board and was qualified as an expert in Veterinary Medicine, established that the “acceptable and prevailing practice” for veterinary medicine does not allow for the delegation of surgery to an individual who is not licensed at the time. 

Moreover, because his license was revoked for providing substandard care to animals upon which he performed spay and neuter procedures, a determination was made that Langlois did not meet the requirements of a licensee regarding “the level of education, skill, and judgment” required, not only to practice veterinary medicine in general, but to perform the specific task that forms the basis of the charges against him. 

Langlois disagreed, and on September 6, 2018, his attorney filed “Application for Leave to Supreme Court”. 

An answer is due by October 4, 2018. 

If the Michigan Supreme Court upholds the opinion issued on July 12, 2018 by the Michigan Court of Appeals, the criminal trial against Bruce Langlois can proceed.

But Langlois, even without a license, has kept busy.

State of Michigan business records confirm that Langlois owns the Spay and Neuter Express, All Heart Pet Care Center, the Animal Hospital and Pet Complex of Lowell (the Animal Hospital of Lowell) and the Brooknelle Pet Resort.

He used some of the money he's made (over $1.2 million) on a Lowell area home described in its real estate listing as an 8,000+ square foot, 15-room home on “20 Acre Estate with a Private, Wooded Hilltop Setting overlooking the Flat River Valley”.


If you've got a basketball jones, and would like your own court (like the one in the Langlois mansion), you're too late. 

There's already an offer pending.