Steven Keith Mangar, MD, 50, a Stanford graduate in anesthesiology and pain management, from Salinas, California finally has some resolution of his 5 year old attack by our rogue government. I originally wrote a post on him in June, 2016, in the 3rd month of DoctorsofCourage’s existence. It was the 15th post in blogs that now measure almost 300 in number.
The attack on Dr. Mangar actually started in 2014. Then he was raided in January, 2015 and arrested in May, 2016 for 37 felonies—26 for insurance fraud related to upcoding and billing for services not rendered and 10 felonies for unlawfully prescribing medications or furnishing drugs to an addict. In April, 2018, 21 felonies were added, including nine for grand theft by false pretenses.
His office manager, Maria “Aloha” Eclavea, was originally charged with 23 felonies of insurance fraud, probably in hopes of forcing her to turn on him. Yep! Ms Eclavea pleaded no contest in April, 2016 to three misdemeanor insurance fraud counts and was ordered to testify at Mangar’s trial.
After multiple delays, the trial finally began in March, 2020, shortly before the coronavirus caused the court to suspend all non-in-custody hearings. When it resumed later in the summer, the attorneys chose a court trial to minimize the spread of the coronavirus. Prosecutor Steve Somers decided to drop most of the felony charges. Dr. Mangar was finally, after 5 years of malicious attack, convicted of 4 misdemeanor charges in August, 2020.
The worst of the charges he was convicted of was prescribing a schedule II narcotic in an inappropriate manner. What kind of a law is that? He surrendered his medical license and was sentenced to 180 days in jail, plus probation. He will be allowed to serve his sentence under house arrest.
Dr. Mangar also pleaded out to a reckless driving charge and a misdemeanor offense involving unsafe driving. He had previously faced a driving under the influence charge that set the 5-year attack in motion. .
“After four years of process, facing 58 felony counts and the threat of spending over 40 years in prison, Dr. Mangar feels exonerated by the result after trial,” his attorney Eric Dumars said in a written statement. ” “He feels strongly he acted in good faith to try to help those that came to him in need.” “Although he disagrees with the court’s conclusions as to the four misdemeanor counts, he accepts the judgment of the court.”
What were the charges based on? The prosecution stated that Dr. Mangar didn’t keep a close eye on his patients receiving opioids, got kickbacks from a pharmaceutical company, and didn’t properly document his patients’ treatments. None of these actions are criminal. And most were “ex post facto”, basing charges from actions from 2013 to 2015 on the CDC guidelines published in 2016. The “kickback” charges were for payments from a pharmaceutical company for speaking engagements. This is general practice for doctors to learn about new products, and is NOT criminal. But it is one of the “create a crime where there is none” techniques now being used by the DOJ.
I hope, as a result of what he has been through, that Dr. Mangar will join us in the fight to stop these illegal attacks on innocent medical professionals. It is the responsibility of all people who know what is happening in this country to step up to the plate to end these illegal attacks. And we, on DOC, have the KEY!! So Dr. Mangar, I look forward to you coming on to the platform.
Addendum:
To end these attacks, restore pain management, and provide compensation to all the families that have been destroyed by government overreach, we must get the Controlled Substance Act repealed. Join Doctorsofcourage to get that done. Learn what we teach and spread the word. NO DRUG CAUSES ADDICTION!! Let’s end the War on Drugs, Doctors and Pain Patients, end the black market, solve the southern border crisis, and restore proper pain management. It CAN be done!
Linda Cheek is a teacher and disenfranchised medical doctor, turned activist, author, and speaker. A victim of prosecutorial misconduct and outright law-breaking of the government agencies DEA, DHHS, and DOJ, she hopes to be a part of exonerating all doctors illegally attacked through the Controlled Substance Act. She holds the key to success, as she can offset the government propaganda that drugs cause addiction with the truth: The REAL Cause of Drug Abuse.
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I posted a comment last year, but wish to add to what I previously wrote. I now have come to see what these evil bastards are doing, and it’s far worse than I’d imagined! These morbid prosecutors who persecute these good medical health caregivers are PURPOSELY putting those of us with Chronic Pain in worse pain; I believe it’s ALL ABOUT MONEY & GREED as TPTB have publicly stated they want to reduce the world’s population by at least 90%, and are not only making sure we don’t get the medications we need for quality of life, but then they offer us free & easy assisted suicides when we cannot take the pain any longer!! Macabre ghoulish evil people!
Until or unless WE stand up, fight these bastards for our rights and win them back, we will be SLAVES with their boots on our necks! I don’t mean to make myself seem like a fanatic, but I want to tell people what’s going on here: we are being exterminated, seen by them as ‘eaters’ who only take, but don’t contribute anything back to society!! So laws must be changed, with our doctors being the ones who should determine what & how much medications we receive.
Thank You, Dr. Mangar, for being the selfless, great man we all know you to be!
Sincerely,
Cheryl A. Pemberton
I’ve seen this before. Overcharge a provider for Federal and/or State fraud offenses. Then ruin his life by publishing false accusations in the local paper/media and then settle for misdemeanors or drop the charges all together. Sometimes the Feds reward auditors with a kickback-monetary reward or just drop the charges because the innocent provider decides to fight the charges.
I was a patient of Dr. Mangar for several years, and NEVER saw or heard of ANYTHING inappropriate in his behavior, actions, or prescribing of medications to his patients; I do know that he got word about one woman who was abusing her prescriptions and he called her in and cut her off immediately.
Dr. Mangar, I wish they’d called me to testify; I’d have done my very best to explain who & what you are: a very good, kind, caring, selfless, decent, honorable man who ONLY wants to help people and not see them suffer, while keeping up your standards & ethics as a good physician!!
May God Bless you, Dr. Mangar; you are truly one of the good ones!!
Cheryl A. Pemberton
I think any Adult with the most average Intelligence would see how MDs & DOs in The United States could be what they are: The Brightest, Best, Most Altruistic of ALL AMERICANS no matter what Vocation That is Their Livelihood (I CANNOT LEAVE OUT THE EXCEPTION OF ALL U.S. ACTIVE OR RETIRED MILTARY MEN AND WOMEN) So People not Thinking For Themselves after gathering facts from sources like Doctors of Courage wonder how do Doctors lose their license, let alone wind up convicted of drug trafficking (The charge for, in some instances, not meeting “The Standard of Care” which may just mean other physicians would have utilized non-pharmacological treatments, or utilized Therapeutics Not Scheduled. I lost my Doctor of nearly 22 years. I asked him if it was okay to be taking Elavil for headaches when it was not officially indicated for that (This was 1994). He explained the meaning of “off label”. He said Eric, after The Food & Drug Administration approves a drug for a purpose submitted by a Manufacturer Licensed MDs may prescribe it. It is NOT Legal for the Manufacturer to promote it for purposes it was not submitted to FDA for. I understood, but perhaps to underscore He added, “I received a letter from The FDA that stated: The off label prescribing of drugs approved by The FDA Is The Practice of Medicine. I read The U.S. Revised Code and extended family members work in Medical Fields requiring Licenses so I am also aware while few in the current era of The Unlimited Power of The DEA Off Label Prescribing of Schedule II Drugs (in my State) is not illegal.
What is Striking is The Office Manager pleading no contest to 3 misdemeanors. Only in Criminal Proceedings is this seem to be part of The “Successful” Prosecution of Licensed Medical Professionals Resulting in Prison Sentences. 23 Felonies become a No Contest Plea To 3 Misdemeanors.
Further update:
All charges on Ms. Eclavea were dismissed.
I am a former patient of Dr. Mangar’s. I FULLY support him and his medical care of me. Not only didn’t he “over-prescribe” opiates, but he actual REDUCED my prescription of Oxycontin and he was instrumental in eliminating Oxy. completely from my care.
I wish his attorney would have contacted me because I would have GLADLY testified on his behalf and in his support. Dr. Mangar is one of the very few doctors that actually listened to me, the person that knows my body better than ANY damn Doctor knows it. He’s one of the best damn Doctors I’ve seen, over my 30 years of treatment for my 7 back surgeries and subsequent chronic pain.
Feel free to contact me, Dr. Mangar. You were railroaded by the overzealous DA, bending to political and public pressure in the current “anti-Oxy” environment.
Thank you for writing about all of the persecuted Doctors of Medicine.
These cowards ‘prosecutors’ will not get away with anything in the end, and there will be no remedy for them when they discover ‘their sickness’ and they must go back into the ground and remain silent forever for their lies, theft and cowardice…