A retired Little Rock ocularist accused of practicing medicine without a degree told detectives he didn’t think there was anything wrong with hanging a fake medical degree in his office because he didn’t intend to use it.
L. Daniel Eaton, 73, of 422 N. Spruce St. was arrested Thursday and charged with two counts of practicing medicine without a degree after an investigation found that Eaton had prescribed medicine, wore an ID badge with the “M.D.” certification and had a bogus medical degree hanging in his old office, according to an affidavit.
Eaton, who retired two years ago, pleaded innocent to the charges in Little Rock District Court on Thursday, and during a phone interview Friday, he emphatically denied the allegations.
“I’d never been arrested in my life,” Eaton said. “I do not practice medicine. I do not write prescriptions.”
The investigation started after police received a letter May 23 from a University of Cincinnati official informing officers that the school had been told Eaton was practicing medicine using a diploma from the university bearing the “M.D.” designation, even though Eaton never received such a credential from Cincinnati.
According to detectives, Eaton took a few classes at the University of Cincinnati but never received a degree.
Detectives met with Michael Kaczkowski, who bought Eaton’s eye- and facial-prosthetic clinic in 2011. Kaczkowski handed overa picture of the doctor of medicine degree and told them that Eaton claimed he received his “M.D.” from the University of Cincinnati, according to the affidavit.
Kaczkowski also gave police a list of prescriptions written by Eaton, and when detectives followed up at a local pharmacy, they found more records listing Eaton as the prescribing doctor.
Eaton has never been licensed to practice medicine in Arkansas, detectives noted, and even though he is a certified ocularist, he is not licensed to prescribe medicine to patients.
Eaton told detectives that he never wrote a prescription and that it was other doctors’ prescriptions for his clients that attached his name to the records.
“[Physicians] provide prescriptions, usually for topical anesthetic for a patient’s eye,” Eaton said Friday. “From time to time, they are renewed and some of the pharmacies just renew it, unfortunately, in my name, and not in the name of the referring physician.”
When detectives asked him about the medical certificate from the University of Cincinnati, Eaton admitted to displaying it and said he never graduated from there. He said the document was given to him by the university.
“He admitted that these people were probably not allowed to give it to him, but they did,” according to the affidavit. “He went on to say he did not think there was anything wrong with doing so because ‘I never used it, I never was in a position where … I needed to use it … I didn’t break any laws.’”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 13 on 12/14/2013