A Word On Dr. Wegman, The Argus, And Justice

There’s a nice letter to the editor in the Argus of 10-3, written by Michael P. Schmidt, D.O., who I understand to be Chief of Staff at Memorial Healthcare in Owosso. In this letter, Dr. Schmidt expresses his support for Dr. Wegman, who has had some recent personal and legal difficulties. He also expresses his disapproval with the way the Argus has been handling the story. I bet this letter was a long time coming. Dr. Wegman’s friends have been complaining about this for a while.

It’s upsetting to watch someone you care about endure personal tragedy, and then endure the embarrassment of having that tragedy published in the newspapers for public consumption. It’s obvious that (at least some of) his colleagues are very upset about the way the Argus has been covering the story. However, I want to point out the difficult position that the Argus is in. If the Argus doesn’t report Dr. Wegman’s story, then the paper is “covering up” for a well known, prominent doctor. If the Argus does report it, then the paper is contributing to Dr. Wegman’s personal tragedy, and angering his supporters … many of whom are also well known, prominent doctors. I have no idea how the county’s only daily newspaper is supposed to find the appropriate balance for this kind of thing.

I sympathize with Dr. Wegman, which is why I’m not linking to the Argus story or giving details of the situation. I don’t see any need to make this site another source for that information. I don’t mean to be rude to the readers here, but if you don’t know the details by now, then you don’t need to know.

I have never lost a spouse, but I know loss, and I know the despair that comes with knowing there’s nothing you can do about it. I can’t imagine the pain that a medical doctor must feel as his wife dies in front of him. Dr. Wegman made a bad choice in how he handled this pain, and he ended up on the front page of the newspaper, adding humiliation to his personal tragedy.

Judge Lostracco was right to consider the loss of Mrs. Wegman, when he considered Dr. Wegman’s case. He was also right to consider the totality of Dr. Wegman’s life, rather than just consider the events that brought Wegman before him.

Which leads me to my last point, on the twisted nature of justice. Dr. Wegman received a fine and community service as his sentence. Although I think justice was probably served here, I also believe that any non-well known, non-prominent citizens who went before Judge Lostracco under similar circumstances would have the book thrown at them. The “book” for this charge, was a maximum penalty of up to four years in prison and/or $30,000 in fines. Call me crazy, but I bet a lot of well known, prominent people would have called that “justice” for someone who was not one of their peers.

While I wouldn’t want to diminish Dr. Wegman’s suffering on any level, I hope he realizes how much support he has among his peers and patients. He also has a medical practice to return to, and he has been met with a compassionate system of justice. Even in the midst of all of this heartache, he has a lot to be thankful for. Hopefully he can take some comfort in all of this as he rebuilds his life and puts this tragedy behind him.