State suspends Ann Arbor pediatrician Howard Weinblatt's medical license
Ann Arbor pediatrician Howard Weinblatt will no longer be allowed to treat patients in the state of Michigan after his medical license was suspended this month.
Howard Weinblatt
State records show the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs placed Weinblatt’s medical license under summary suspension on May 17. The suspension means Weinblatt’s medical license, which he first obtained in 1977, is no longer valid in the state.
Weinblatt pleaded no contest to one count of surveilling an unclothed person in January and was sentenced to 5 years of probation and a $2,000 fine. Weinblatt was also required to move from his home and to register as a sex offender.
His plea of no contest isn't an admission of guilt, but in the eyes of the law, it is treated the same as being convicted of a felony. That conviction meant his medical license would automatically be suspended, as AnnArbor.com reported in January.
Weinblatt was accused of watching a 12-year-old girl, a family friend and one of his patients, change clothes in her bedroom. At his sentencing, he expressed remorse for the pain and suffering the case had caused to the victim, her family and his family. His Burns Park home was situated just 11 feet from the girl’s home.
A former employee of IHA Child Health — Ann Arbor, Weinblatt had been active in the Ann Arbor community for many years. He served on numerous community boards and donated to many causes, according to his attorney Thomas Cranmer.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
JRW
Thu, May 31, 2012 : 2:18 p.m.
Good. This individual does not deserve to practice medicine in any state, and hopefully he won't be able to get a license anywhere else. As I recall, his computer was found to contain child porn. He entered into a profession that put him in contact with young children. It's unfortunate that he wasn't caught sooner. Pedophiles come in all stripes, some live under bridges and some are doctors, and everything in between. I'm also glad the other alleged pedophile pediatrician at UM was finally caught and fired earlier this year.
Hume
Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 11:17 a.m.
@ypsiveteran The agreement to not prosecute further was by the local (state) authorities. There was a no comment by the FBI if they were looking into further charges. So they will charge him and can charge him if they find that there was really child porn on his computer. Go back and read the stories that came out when he plead no contest. His practice was killed the moment the charges hit the news so it does make sense to plead if it would limit any civil action against him and keep his family from being dragged through the court system. No contest is not the same as guilty.
YpsiVeteran
Fri, Jun 1, 2012 : 4:48 a.m.
Hume, it was reported that his plea deal did, in fact, include the provision that "prosecutors" agreed not to pursue additional charges against him. Also, absolutely NO ONE of his stature pleads no contest (aka guilty) to a felony sex offense, even one that allows him to be on the "private" sex offender registry as he's being allowed, just to keep it out of the courts.
Hume
Thu, May 31, 2012 : 4:12 p.m.
@ypsiveteran I'm sure these details have been passed on to the FBI. If they do not prosecute then it looks like it was not really child porn. His plea deal does not protect him from federal prosecution. His career was over when this story was reported in the media. His plea could be nothing more than not wanting to drag this thing through the court system.
YpsiVeteran
Thu, May 31, 2012 : 3:20 p.m.
Hume, you are right about all those IT facts, and, in light of them, the fact that the man declined to offer a defense speaks more loudly than anything else.
Hume
Thu, May 31, 2012 : 2:49 p.m.
@JRW His computer was found to contain images that were supposedly consistent with the FBI database of exploited teens. (or something to that effect) This is all coming from the AA police department computer forensics expert. But this raises several questions. Were they all downloaded from the teendream website that was subscribed to by someone with access to his credit card. If it was then these websites say that all images are of adults 18 an older before you join. Did he actually download these pictures or were they thumbnail pictures that automatically get downloaded when you a browsing a site. For instance all the ads in the margins of AA.com get downloaded and you can see the images in your internet browser cache. If you are browsing a porn site you are going to download images that you have not clicked on. Also the police should have had access to all of Dr. Weinblatt's internet download records available from his internet service provider, yes they keep logs of everything you download, and they should be able to tell if he was part of a child pornography ring or not. Nothing has come as of yet that would indicate he was part of a child porn ring. Also some of the things the police computer forensics person said about the registry being wiped or tampered with are a bit fishy. A virus could have done the damage to the registry and it would look like an attempt to clean things out of it. Also if Dr. Weinblatt had downloaded one of those "registry cleaners" to make his pc run faster it could have done the same thing to the registry. I am saying as a network administrator/security person that some of the things reported by the police/prosecution in this case should be viewed skeptically.
Jill
Thu, May 31, 2012 : 2:10 p.m.
My heart goes out to this man and his family. There is a lot to the story no one knows. Interesting though that after 30 years of practice; not a single patient came out saying anything bad about this man.. Please people- read between the lines, not these foolish articles.
YpsiVeteran
Thu, May 31, 2012 : 3:17 p.m.
Yes, a single patient did. She was 12. I'm not sure how an article about the man's medical license qualifies as "foolish." The man declined to offer a defense in response to a felony sex offense charge, something an innocent person of his stature and means does not do; there may well be quite a bit to this story that "no one knows," but it doesn't make him any less responsible for his actions.
Silly Sally
Thu, May 31, 2012 : 12:48 p.m.
A sex offender for looking out his own window, of his own home, with his naked eyes. A world turned upside down. What is next, some guy is convicted for not turning his face if someone changes their clothes on a public beach? If I want privacy when I change my clothes, which I do, I close doors and window blinds. Especially at night! If I and the other girls in my highschool PE class left the lockerroom doors wide open, most of the guys in my high school class would still be registered offenders, under this silly law. Oh, so silly.
GoNavy
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 9:52 p.m.
"At his sentencing, he expressed remorse for [getting caught]. His Burns Park home was situated just 11 feet from the girl's home." My edit.
Basic Bob
Thu, May 31, 2012 : 10:37 a.m.
Next they should be prosecuting the ladies in the canoe who were peeping at the old guy with his pants down.
u812
Thu, May 31, 2012 : 12:48 a.m.
It's illegal now to look out the window of your own home?
RJA
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 9:19 p.m.
Sad, but it is what it IS!
Carolyn
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 8:52 p.m.
But he can always go to another state and practice. Doesn't make sense to me that this is the case but it is.
MidwinterD
Thu, May 31, 2012 : 1:52 a.m.
When applying for a state medical license, a physician has to document the status of other medical licenses in other states and whether any have been revoked or suspended. It has gotten much harder nowadays for bad docs to simply up stakes and move to another state. I think Weinblatt's career is safely over.
treetowncartel
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 9:25 p.m.
That is not entirely correct.
cinnabar7071
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 8:39 p.m.
"At his sentencing, he expressed remorse for the pain and suffering the case had caused to the victim, her family and his family. " What a sorry excuss for a man, cant even say he's sorry for his actions. Weinblatt you caused the pain and suffering, not the "case".
vida
Thu, May 31, 2012 : 11:49 a.m.
Hume if it was one of your children and you didn't work in advertising you might think differently!
Hume
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 8:10 p.m.
AA.com is trolling for comments... Need those clicks to get ad revenue!
jj45678
Thu, May 31, 2012 : 2:10 a.m.
Yeah God forbid aa.com gets enough revenue to continue running the site. Oh the horror!
Hume
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 8:49 p.m.
and thank you cinnabar! post click post click cha-ching!
DBH
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 8:48 p.m.
@Hume, I would rather have follow-up on unresolved stories than not. The fact that Dr. Weinblatt's license was suspended is noteworthy, in my opinion. I still await answers to unresolved questions I posed on the Comments Moderation website: http://www.annarbor.com/news/u-m-student-injured-in-fall-at-cancer-center-is-released-from-hospital/ Was the cause for his being on the roof ever determined, and was he ever charged in the incident? Has Cole Rickett ever been tried, or scheduled for trial, in the death of Carolyn Dutta? http://www.annarbor.com/news/crime/ontario-man-faces-multiple-charges-in-fatal-car-crash-involving-ann-arbor-woman/ Betty Powell Chisholm was to have returned to court on 3/13/12 in the case in which she is accused of hitting Gerald Foster while he was in a wheelchair, but I haven't seen anything about her having returned, or rescheduled to return, to court. http://www.annarbor.com/news/crime/77-year-old-woman-betty-chisholm-ann-arbor-police-motorized-wheelchair/ Is AnnArbor.com going to do any follow-up on the missing Brice Moss? The last I read, the police thought (but did not know for sure) that he went missing voluntarily. At last report, his case was still open. Is it still?
cinnabar7071
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 8:40 p.m.
Thank you for your support Hume.
evenyoubrutus
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 7:46 p.m.
YAY! Let's rehash the whole thing! Great way to start the summer!
Michigan Man
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 6:09 p.m.
My two sons were taken care of by IHA Child Health - the oldest is 29 the youngest in 26. Was expunging old medical files, bills, documents, etc over the Memorial Day Weekend. Must admit as I was looking at old IHA "stuff" had my eye out for Weinblatt as the attending physician. Really too bad, we as concerned citizens/parents of patients need to be the watchdog, quality beacon protector of patient rights. This is one part of the healthcare system (most of which is excellent = in my opinion) which needs immediate attention and strengthening.
UlyssesWrong1
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 5:07 p.m.
Dr.Weinblatt was my pediatrician at the U of M hospital when I was a child, strange seeing his mugshot on here.
DBH
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 4:27 p.m.
I assume he has moved by now, as I believe he had 30 days to do so from his sentencing in March. However, I do not find him on the Michigan Public Sex Offender Registry as of today.
justcurious
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 4:32 p.m.
Wasn't he allowed to be on some "special" offender list? I seem to recall something to that effect, but could be wrong.
SonnyDog09
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 4:19 p.m.
Why did it take from January to May for his license to be suspended? That doesn't sound very "automatic" to me.
SonnyDog09
Thu, May 31, 2012 : 11:34 a.m.
If he plead guilty in January, what process is left?
jj45678
Thu, May 31, 2012 : 2:09 a.m.
There's a weird, wacky thing called "due process".